Broken Souls
by CalinaAnneHart
Summary: A grisly case at NCIS sees the return of an old team member. Can Gibbs and DiNozzo put past events behind them to work with her again. Warning: this will be a dark story, full warnings inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello folks.**

**Warnings: this will be a dark story. The team will face some tough times. Kidnap, assault, torture, rape, shootings, murder, maybe a happy ending...**

**Disclaimer: I'm only going to do this once! We all know it's not mine! If it was I wouldn't be writing on here now would I?**

**This story is set straight after the opener of season 8!**

_**Broken Souls**_

**Chapter 1**

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was soaked to the bone. It had been raining for well over three hours now, and was showing no signs of stopping. The drains were starting to block with the volume of leaves and grime being washed from the streets in the constant downpour. He watched his three agents darting around the crime scene before him collecting their evidence, snapping photos and taking measurements as quickly as they could so as to take shelter from the never ending rain.

"Boss," Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo jogged to his side. "I got all the measurements." Gibbs turned to him, hiding his amusement at his agent's obvious want to retreat to the warmth and dryness of the car.

Tony took note of the slightly raised eyebrows and expectant look. "So...now I'll go help McGee with the search." He turned, slightly deflated, and headed back to the body.

Gibbs looked at the victim's battered face. It was barely recognizable from the picture on the ID card they had found in his wallet. Lance Corporal Patrick Ashbury would be fifth badly beaten body in autopsy this month.

Ziva David, now a fully-fledged NCIS Special Agent after recently becoming a US citizen, finished questioning her witness. She headed towards Gibbs, leaping over a rather large puddle in the process. Gibbs couldn't help but give a small smile at her agility.

"What do you got?" Gibbs asked her as he lifted his coffee cup and took a sip.

"Our victim entered the bar at around 2130; he ordered a beer and seated himself at the far end of the bar away from the other patrons. He did not talk to anyone but the waitress said that he kept looking at his watch and checking his cell. She said that it looked as though he were waiting for a call."

"How'd he end up out here?"

"The waitress did not see him leave, but McGee checked the call log and our victim did receive a call at

2210."

"How long between the call and him being found?" Gibbs drained the last of his coffee, folded the cup and slipped it into his pocket to recycle later.

"The waitress says she put out the trash at 2300 exactly. She does it at the same time every night." Ziva flipped the wet notebook closed and turned in time to see Tony stumble backwards over a trash can lid. He fell to the ground, backside first, into a rather large puddle. His face twisted as the rain water soaked through the seat of his pants to his underwear.

"Damn it, Probie." As he climbed to his feet gingerly, his wet trousers clinging to his butt, Tony kicked the trash can lid back towards the junior agent who was elbow deep in the garbage.

"Sorry, Tony." Timothy McGee held in his snigger but could not hide his amusement. "Everything's bagged and tagged, Boss." He called to Gibbs.

"All yours, Duck." Gibbs turned to Doctor Donald Mallard.

"Most kind, Jethro." He and his assistant, Jimmy Palmer, wheeled the gurney under the crime scene tape and over to the victim. "Anthony, I have a spare suit in the van if you would like to change?"

"I'm good, Ducky." Tony replied quickly. "But thanks for the offer." Tony remember all too well the embarrassment of having to wear the medical examiners spare jumpsuit the last time he had been soaked on a crime scene. He suppressed a shudder at the thought of the crotch that had nearly cut him in two.

"I think it is a good look on you, Tony." Ziva smirked.

"Why, thank you, Zee-vah!" Tony directed all his annoyance into the over pronunciation of her name. They all trudged back to the NCIS issue Dodge Charger. Ziva had already settled herself in the front passenger seat by the time the others reached the car. McGee opened the passenger door behind the driver and slid in.

"You better not make my seats wet, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he himself climbed into the driver's side. Tony, muttering to himself, took of his windbreaker and tied it around his waist. He grimaced as he sat down, the cold, wet fabric of his trousers pressing against his skin.

* * *

By the time they had arrived back at the Navy yard the rain had relented to a light drizzle. They exited the lift into the bullpen, Tony trailing behind heaving the three heavy boxes of evidence in his arms.

"Get those down to Abby." Gibbs said as he seated himself at his desk.

"Hey, Boss, you think I could go dry out?" Tony asked him hopefully. He could feel his still damp underwear clinging to his backside. Gibbs gave him a look of pure amusement before nodding at his senior agent, giving him the go ahead to change. "Thanks, Boss." He dropped the evidence boxes unceremoniously onto his desk and turned, narrowly avoiding knocking over Tim on his way to dry clothes.

"I shall look at Lance Corporal Ashbury's history and service record." Ziva announced as took a seat at her desk.

"And I'll access his phone and bank records." McGee added as he proceeded to tap away on his keyboard.

Gibbs shut the top draw of his desk after checking his service weapon and badge, before he looked up and noticed that Tony had left the boxes of evidence on his desk. Sighing, he headed back round his desk and retrieved the boxes and headed towards the elevator. Juggling the heavy boxes in his arms he used a knuckle to push the call button. When the car arrived and the doors opened he stepped in and rested the boxes on the handrail along the walls. The doors opened again seconds later and he was hit by a wall of noise and a large grin.

"Can I help?" Abby offered, gesturing to the boxes. Before Gibbs could tell her that he could manage just fine she whipped the top box away and headed back to her lab. Gibbs, relieved of some of the weight he was carrying followed suit. Abby had already deposited her box on the metal work top and watched as Gibbs walked through the threshold of the lab, limping slightly. "Knee bothering you again? I have a couple of those adhesive heat pads left if you want one."

Gibbs gave her a winning smile. He was never one to show his emotions or discomfort, but Abby knew him too well. A few months earlier he had jarred his old knee injury taking down a suspect. Ducky had told him he had done no further damage and Abby had been quick to mother him, supplying him with pain killers and heat pads to help with the bruising. She had stopped by his house later that evening with a large tub of ice cream, coffee flavored, which she explained was, in her books, the most effective pain killer. He had indulged her by trying a few mouthfuls before leaving her to finish the tub whilst she watched him work on the boat in the basement. He had prescribed himself a large measure of bourbon, his personal favorite pain killer.

"I think I'll survive, Abbs." Gibbs affirmed, quickly signing the chain of evidence before handing the papers to her. Abby gave him a knowing look as she flipped the lid of the first box of evidence. Gibbs retreated out of the door before she could begin to badger him further, heading back to the bullpen.

As he strode out of the elevator he saw Tony lounging in his chair with his feet propped upon the desk, a satisfied smile on his face. "You comfortable, DiNozzo?" He inquired of Tony with his usual note of sarcasm. Tony shot straight up in his chair, his feet falling to the floor with a dull thud and started typing furiously at his keyboard.

"Yes, Boss..." He faltered at the look the leading agent gave him. "I mean..."

"What do we know about our victim?" Gibbs asked of his team, cutting off his senior agent.

"Well, Lance Corporal Patrick Ashbury was stationed at Quantico; he served as the master at arms on the base. Currently on leave he wasn't scheduled to return until this Friday." McGee pulled the Corporals service picture and record up onto the plasma screen. "He has an exemplary record; his CO says he's the perfect recruit. Never absent, never late."

"Any problems in the brig?" Gibbs returned as he looked at the display on the plasma.

"None that I can see from his service record and his CO didn't mention any." McGee replied. Gibbs was silent for a moment, staring at the man's picture. The team noticed the cogs turning and waited each unaware that they were holding their breath slightly.

"McGee, the other victims, the beatings, put 'em up." He raised his chin slightly indicating the plasma screen.

"Think they're linked, Boss?" Tony questioned, rising from his chair and moving to stand beside his mentor, as McGee typed the command into his computer and four faces popped up on the screen joining Ashbury's. Gibbs remained silent, staring intently at the men's faces, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"They're all enlisted." McGee pointed out.

"Yeah, but different forces, three Marine, two Navy." Tony voiced.

"They were all beaten to death, very messy in my opinion, I would have simply..."

"Find out if any of them knew each other," Gibbs cut off the end of Ziva's sentence as he retreated round his desk and retrieved his gun and badge from his desk draw and clipped them to his belt. "And if there are any similarities in their deaths." He stalked out of the bullpen and back into the elevator. To the team there was no doubt where he was headed.

* * *

Forty minutes later Gibbs strode through the door of Abby's lab, holding his hand behind his back. He stealthily stepped up behind her and whispered in her ear. "You got anything for me, Abbs?" Abby gave a small start and turned to find herself almost nose to nose with the lead agent.

"Depends." She squinted at him. "Do you have something for me?" She cocked an eyebrow at him, cheekily. Smiling, he maneuvered his arm from behind him and presented Abby with her most desired beverage.

"And people say you don't know how to please women." Abby ginned at him, jokingly. Gibbs raised his eyebrows in warning; the smile on his face however gave away his amusement. Abby was the only member of the team who could get away with saying such things to him.

She slipped the straw of her Caf-Pow! between her dark painted lips and took a series of long sips of the ice cold, caffeinated beverage. After a few moments of silence broken only by her slurping, she looked up at the agent, his eyes locked on hers, his eyebrows raised.

"Evidence, Abbs?" He asked soft but pointedly.

"Oh, yeah." She offered apologetically, turning to the work bench behind her. "I don't really have much for you yet 'cos I just got started, but I can tell you that I have fiber and hair samples running, I'm just waiting to lift some prints," She pointed to the large Perspex box on the furthest wall of her lab. Inside

Gibbs could see a number of items lying under a cloud of gaseous superglue. "And I'm waiting on blood samples from Ducky to run by Major Mass Spec."

Gibbs picked up an evidence bag containing the latest victims Service ID card, looking again at the young man's face. Abby noted the pensive look etched on his face.

"What you thinking, Bossman?" She asked raising the straw of the Caf-Pow to her lips once more.

"Compare anything you get with the last four cases I brought you." He softly replaced the evidence bag back on the surface of the metal work bench. "See if there's anything hinky." He gave a gentle tug on one of her braids as he walked past his loyal lab rat.

"Anything for you, Gibbs."

* * *

The doors to autopsy emitted a soft hiss and they slid open, the airtight seal breaking, allowing Gibbs entrance into the morgue.

"Ah, Jethro, right on time, as usual." The medical examiner said glancing over his shoulder briefly before returning his eyes to the body occupying the slab in front of him.

Joining Ducky and Jimmy at the mortuary table, Gibbs watched his old friend's skilled hands as they removed the Lance Corporals stomach and placed it in the bowl of the scale hanging to his left. "Ten ounces exactly, Mr. Palmer." Jimmy made a note of the organs weight in the victim's autopsy report.

"What can you tell me, Duck?"

"Well," Doctor Mallard said as he stepped back from the autopsy table and crossed the room to the light boxes on the far wall. "The Corporal suffered an extremely server beating, but you already knew that."

He gestured towards the x-rays held under the clips. "A total of seven broken ribs, a fractured Ilium, Humorous, Radius, Ulna, Patella, Mandible. The cause of death was one of these." He pointed a bloody finger to an x-ray of the victims head, Gibbs followed the Doctors finger to a series of black, jagged cracks that were scattered across the skull. "Repeated blunt force trauma to the head causing depressed skull fractures. The broken bones were displaced inwards, nicking his vertebral artery." He turned back to Ashbury's body as he continued. "Death would have been relatively quick after the damning blow."

Gibbs let out a small sigh. The list of injuries and cause of death was the same for each of the other cases his team had been assigned.

"You, too noticed the similarities, I take it." The ME pondered after seeing the resigned look on Gibbs' face.

"Yeah, you find anything on the body, Duck?"

"I have a few samples for Abby here." He affirmed as he turned to the slab behind him. "Splinters of wood, similar in colour to those found on the other victims," He indicated the first evidence jar. "A swab of a substance I found on his right cheek," He motioned to the second jar. "And this." He held the last evidence jar aloft for Gibbs to look at. Inside was a small clear plastic bag which contained a fine white powder.

"Cocaine?" Gibbs queried.

"Most likely, but Abigail will confirm that for us." He placed the evidence jar back on the table. "I have a few more samples to collect then Mr. Palmer will deliver them upstairs."

Nodding his thanks at Ducky, Gibbs turned and headed back out of autopsy.

* * *

"Timmy!" Abby clunked around the partition dividing the bullpen to stand in front of McGee's desk.

"Where's Gibbs?"

"Uh...he's down in autopsy." Tim told her.

"I found something." She bounced on her heels several times. "You remember that piece of paper found in Corporal Lopez' pants pocket?"

"You were trying to raise the image that had been washed away." Tim recalled.

"Yeah." She placed an evidence bag on the desk in front of him. Inside was a rectangular slip of paper. At the top, in faded ink, was an intricate letter S with a snake coiled around its bends.

"It's a credit card receipt." McGee stated, looking at the print below the emblem.

"Yup." Abby said happily. "And it links to all the other victims." She placed a further four evidence bags next to the first. Each one held a receipt from the same place. "The dates on the receipts each tally with the DODs."

"They all visited the same place on the night's they died." Tony chipped in. He and Ziva had risen from their desks and moved to stand either side of Abby.

"Which was?" They were all startled by Gibbs' sudden appearance behind them. Abby turned to face her leader.

"A gentleman's club on K Street Northwest. Club Skins."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello folks!**

**Wow, from the number of people who added this story to their alerts, maybe that last chapted was pretty ok! Thanks muchly to all of you! Makes me very happy to see so many people following the story! Know what would make me happier still?Clicking on that little 'Review' button at the bottom! It's only takes a second! ; )**

**So, in thanks to you all, here's chapter two! Enjoy! x**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"Skins?" cried Tony excitedly. "I love that club!" He realized too late what he had said, his face turning a delightful shade of pink.

"Why does that not surprise me?" asked Ziva amused. "Are you a regular patron, Tony?"

He could feel Gibbs' eyes burning into the back of his head. "I may have visited, Zee-vah." Tony retorted, using the elongated version of her name. "For a friend's stag night." Too his left, McGee let out a disbelieving snigger, but after a look from Gibbs it turned into a cough.

"Have you been there since the referb?" Abby asked innocently. The team turned to her, looks of half shock, half amusement on their faces. When it came to Abby nothing should really surprise them, but every now and then...

"You've been to Skins?" asked Tony cautiously, wondering if she was laying a trap for him.

"Yeah, a bunch of times." She looked around at the team who were all waiting to hear more. "A girlfriend of mine dances there. I go support her every now and then!"

"What's her name?" Tony enquired eagerly. Abby threw him a look.

"So our victims all visited the club on the nights they died?" Gibbs asked Tim, getting the team back on track.

"Yes, Boss." Tim answered, looking back down at the papers on his desk. He leafed through them until he found the lists of evidence found on the victims. "Petty Officers Jones and Camarl both had credit card receipts from the bar in their wallets, Lieutenant Miller didn't have one on his person but a cash door receipt was found three feet away from his body, and Corporal Lopez had a card receipt in his pants pocket."

"Why the hell didn't we pick up on this before?" Gibbs growled.

"Well, Lopez's receipt was found with a pair of panties, if that's what you could call them." Abby chipped in. "But the panties had quite a lot of...um...bodily fluid on them which made the receipt wet and it took me a while to raise the clubs logo."

"The receipt found near Lieutenant Miller was bagged as 'surrounding evidence', it was a cash receipt so there was no way of knowing for sure it was his." Tony pointed the clicker at the plasma screen and brought up the photograph of the receipt found in the grass verge near the body.

"It wasn't until Abby recovered the image that I realized the links, Boss. Sorry." Tim said sheepishly.

"Apology retracted." He quickly added, remembering rule number twenty-six.

"So, what do we think? They didn't tip the strippers enough?" Tony queried with a smirk.

"They're not strippers, Tony!" Exclaimed Abby. "They don't remove any clothing."

"No, that would require wearing clothes to begin with." He retorted.

"Maybe our victims tried to get a little too friendly with one of two of the dancers." Ziva chipped in.

"Possible. Jaya says that guys are always trying it on with them. Could be self-defense." Abby suggested.

"If that's the case, your friend just became a suspect." Tony said. "Jaya? That's a pretty name, what's she look like?" He winced as Gibbs' hand connected with the back of his head. "Thanks, Boss."

"DiNozzo."

"Yeah, Boss."

"Check out any reported activity in the vicinity, go back two years." Tony scooted to his desk and pick up the phone.

"On it, Boss."

"McGee."

"Boss?"

"Check out the club owners, management, and staff. See if any of them have records."

"On it." McGee started tapping at furiously on his keyboard.

"Ziva, look at the clubs accounts, see if there's any odd payments."

"Abby."

"Yes my silver fox."

"Jaya, your friend." He said, ignoring her term of affection for him. "Would she come in and talk to us?"

"Here? I could ask. You want me to squeeze her for information?" Abby posed her question in her best 'Gibbs' voice.

"Nope. If there's any squeezing, I'll do it." He opened his top draw and took out his service weapon and clipped the holster to his belt before heading for the elevator. "Goin' for coffee." He called out as he walked. "I want something concrete by the time I get back."

* * *

An hour later Abby sat in the conference room with her friend, Jaya. Gibbs and Tony walked through the door, Gibbs approached her and introduced himself, while Tony remained frozen in the doorway. Jaya was the quintessential Rockabilly pin up girl. She wore a black short sleeved blouse with white polka dots which was tucked into a black high waisted pencil skirt. Draped around her shoulders was a deep red cardigan, her hair was styled into 1940's victory rolls and her seemed stockings lead down to an impressive pair of heels. She stood as the silver haired agent approached her and held out her hand to shake his. Her arm emerged from under the cardigan and revealed a full colour sleeve tattoo.

"The famous Jethro Gibbs." Jaya said before he could introduce himself. "Abby's told me all about you." Gibbs cast a looking Abby's direction raising his eyebrows slightly.

"What?" She said defensively. Gibbs grinned as he moved around the table to take a seat. Tony stepped forward instantly, his hand extended.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm..."

"Anthony DiNozzo. Yeah, Abby's told me about you too." She said, giving him a sly smile. Gibbs allowed himself another small grin. DiNozzo was well known to every person in the building for being a complete womanizer. He sunk into the chair next to his Boss, his ego slightly bruised, and pulled out his notebook.

"So, Miss Gutierrez..." Gibbs started.

"Please, call me Jaya."

"Jaya." He said with a nod. "How long have you worked at the club?"

"Four years, I've been there since it opened. I've worked at many clubs like that. When you've danced in one, you've danced in them all."

"How'd you get the job?" Tony inquired.

"How do you think?" Jaya asked, amused. "I auditioned. I was up against sixty girls that day. I was one of the first to be given a contract."

"Tell me about your Boss," He peered over to his senior agent's notebook, "William Greaves."

"Bill." Gibbs and Tony both noticed the term of familiarity. "From my point of view he's a good Boss. Pays on time, never breaks the terms of my contract, he's always perfectly polite and friendly."

"Your point of view?" Gibbs questioned. Jaya paused for a moment and looked down at her hands.

"I've heard some of the other girls talking." She said. "When you do what I do, you get close with the other girls; you look out for each other. Sometimes I find it hard to believe some of the things I hear; other times...it sounds about right."

"What do you hear?" Tony asked looking up from his notepad. Jaya turned to Abby, seeking reassurance which she gave with a nod of her head and a kind smile.

"Every now and then one or two of the girls show up with a few bruises, they cover them with make-up and carry on with the show. Later they get called to Bill's office and sometimes we see them leave with various guys. This goes on for a few weeks and then they leave and a new girl takes her place."

"They leave willingly?" Gibbs asked her.

"I don't know. All I do know is that we never hear from them again. Not even..." She stopped mid-sentence, taking a deep breath. Abby reached over and took her hand, squeezing it in her own. Jaya have her a thankful smile before she continued. "Last year, Kyla, she was a good friend. We talked about everything. Work, home, the sleazy guys at the club." She let out a small laugh which contradicted the single tear which fell. "She'd been really distracted for a few days. Said she couldn't tell me what it was about but that everything was okay. We said goodnight after a show, next day she didn't turn up. I never saw her again. Her phone was disconnected, her apartment cleared." She wiped the tears from her cheeks as she continued. "Whisper among some of the girls is that he gets them hooked on drugs, pimps them out for a couple of weeks then gets rid of them to cover any tracks."

"Has Greaves ever approach you?" Tony asked looking up from his notebook.

"No. I don't think he ever would. I'm not timid enough. It's the quiet ones, the ones who wouldn't say 'Boo' to a goose. They're the ones that disappear." She paused for a moment. "If it helps, I could give you some of the girls names, the ones I think could be next."

"There's not much we can do unless one of them lodges a formal complaint." Gibbs said regretfully.

"Nothing?" Jaya asked incredulously. "He won't stop!"

"I'm afraid that's the way the system works." Tony tried to explain. "We need evidence, physical or verbal threats, witnesses. Unless one of the girls comes to us, we have no case."

"We've running checks of the staff and managers of the club; the most we can do at this time is investigate any outstanding warrants or old crimes."

"You won't let on that I came here will you? If it gets back to Bill that I spoke to the feds...I could be the next one to disappear."

"Everything you have said today will stay within these four walls." Gibbs said motioning a finger around the room. Jaya returned his comforting smile before she let go of Abby's hand and rose from her chair. Gibbs, Abby and Tony followed suit and the four of them headed towards the door.

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs." Jaya said as she turned back to face him in the doorway. "Abby was right, you're a gem." She shook Gibbs hand again and flashed a flirtatious smile at Tony.

"I'll walk you to your car." Abby said, linking her arm through her friends. They turned and headed down the corridor.

"DiNozzo." Gibbs said quietly and he watched Jaya and Abby round the corner out of view. "Go down to the front gate and erase her name from the visitor's log. She was never here."

"Who was never here, Boss?" Tony cocked an eyebrow at him as he backed down the hall after the girls. Amused, Gibbs turned and headed in the other direction pulling his cell phone from his pants pocket when it began to ring. "Gibbs?" He said into the receiver.

"Boss? It's McGee."

"What do you got, McGee?" Gibbs punched the call button for the elevator.

"Boss, I've got something on a few of the staff at the club."

"On my way, McGee." The elevator doors slip open and he stepped inside flipping his phone closed as he reached for the button to take him to the bullpen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello folks, here's chapter 3 for you all! A big thank you to those of you who have reviewed so far, and to those who have added the story to their watch list! I'm not entirly happy with this chapter but i promised you one by the end of the weekend so here you are!**

**A couple of people have asked me when this takes place. I've set it right after to conclusion of the _Paloma Reynosa_ story line! So at the very start of season 8!**

**Anyhoo, enjoy! please let me know what you think! x**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Talk to me, McGee." Gibbs called as he strode back into the bullpen.

"Several of the staff have records, Boss." Said McGee. "Assault, possession, illegal firearms possession, theft, there's a whole array of charges and convictions. Several in particular stand out." He nodded towards Tony who pointed the remote at the plasma. Several surveillance photos popped up on the screen. "This is the owner of the club…"

"William Greaves." Gibbs interjected.

"Yup, sixty two years old, originally from New York, never married, no children, he's been arrested multiple times for possession and distribution but there's never been enough evidence to charge him with anything." McGee stated. "There have been allegations made against him from several employees, they were all either dropped later or the witnesses never appeared to testify."

"What kind of allegations?" Gibbs asked.

"Assault, embezzlement, battery and sexual harassment." Tim reeled off the list from the sheet of paper in front of him.

"This," Tony clicked the remote and the plasma and the image changed. "Is Gunnery Sergeant Nick Roberts, thirty five years old from South Carolina. He received a more then dishonorable discharge in March 2001 for sexually assaulting a female marine. At his trial he proclaimed that women don't belong in the military. He served just six years and was released in 2007. Since then he has been in the employ of William Greaves."

"The last two of which he's been Greaves' right hand man." McGee added as Tony brought the surveillance photos again. In the background of every shot, a few paces behind his employer, was Roberts. "Where ever Greaves goes, Roberts goes."

"Where was he based?"

"At the marine corps recruit depot on Parris Island." McGee responded after looking down at his papers once more. "He was in instructor in the MCMAP. That's the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program." McGee elaborated. Gibbs turned to him, his eyebrows raised. "Not that you didn't know that, Boss." Tim said quickly.

"He was a black belt 4th degree, Boss. The guys a killing machine. According to his former CO his temper was paper thin. He had several altercations with other marines before the sexual assault case." Tony reported.

"Last but not lost is Joseph Wilson." Ziva stepped forward reading from her print out.

"Least." Tony corrected pointing the remote at the plasma one last time and bringing up Wilson's mug shot.

"What?" Ziva glared at him.

"It's last but not least, Ziva."

"Neh." She dismissed her mistake with a wave of her hand. "He has served a total of thirty five years in jail. He manages security for the club. He has been questioned several times by Metro police for being too heavy handed with punters."

"What was he inside for?" Gibbs asked.

"He served a few years in his early twenties for petty theft and aggravated assault." Ziva paused slightly before answering. "And he raped and beat three women, one of which was so badly injured she was in a coma for six weeks."

"My money is on these two." DiNozzo said as he moved Wilson's and Roberts' mug shots side by side on the plasma.

"Want us to bring 'em in, Boss?" McGee asked.

"No evidence, McGee. It's all circumstantial. Until Abby gives us something concrete most we can do is keep 'um under surveillance."

Tony's head snapped up and he turned to their leader. "Inside the club, Boss? I volunteer." He said eagerly.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Ziva asked shaking her head.

Gibbs stepped up to his senior agent and looked him square in the face, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Why not?" He said lightly. "You'd blend right in." With that he turned and headed back out of the bullpen towards the elevator.

"What does he mean by that?" Tony pondered allowed to his team mates as he watched Gibbs leave.

* * *

"You read me, Abbs?" Tony said as he clipped the comms receiver onto the inside of his left sleeve. Evening had fallen and he had just parked his car in the lot opposite the club.

"Loud and clear, T-man." Abby's voice floated out of the earwig already in place.

Tony opened his car door and stepped out straightening his jacket. "Jaya there tonight?" He asked with a casual tone.

"Nope. It's her night off." Abby smiled. "She's out with her fiancé. It's their anniversary." To her right

McGee let out a snort of laughter when he heard Tony's 'Aw, damn.'

"Do not worry, Tony. I am sure there will be other…eligible ladies in there." Ziva told him with a smirk on her face.

"You got the feed up, Abbs." Gibbs asked as he strode into the room holding two cups. He handed one to Abby, a Caf-Pow, and took a swig out of the other.

"Just setting it up now." She pointed to the large plasma screen on the far wall of her lab. "Tony, you got the glasses on?" Abby spoke into the microphone joined to her headset.

"Putting them on now." The static on the screen was suddenly replaced with a view of Tony's feet.

"Nice shoes, DiNozzo." Gibbs said.

"Thanks, Boss. They're John Lobb, handmade…you were being sarcastic, weren't you, Boss?"

"Ya think, DiNozzo?"

"I'll collect the Gibbs-slap later." The video feed moved as Tony moved his head up walked down the sidewalk. He rounded a corner and the bright neon sign of the club came into view. The entrance to the club itself was fairly plain. Only those who knew of its existence would know what lay behind the door.

As Tony crossed the road toward the club, the door swung open sharply, causing the agent to stop in his tracks. Two men emerged dragging a third with them. They lunged forward and let go of the man in their grasp who fell with a sickening thud to the concrete.

Gibbs, Ziva, Tim and Abby all watched as the evicted man rolled onto his side and tried to push himself to sitting. Clearly inebriated, the man lost his balance and fell back to the ground only to try again to raise himself from the floor. Tony stepped up onto the sidewalk making sure to keep both parties in the view of his surveillance glasses.

"That's Roberts." Gibbs said as he moved closer to the screen for a better look. "Who's the other one?" He asked, pointing to the unknown associate. The man was tall, his face partly obscured behind a beard.

"He is not one we came across during our research." Ziva informed him.

"I can try and run facial recognition but the guys face is too dark. Tony?" She spoke into the mic once more. "I need you to get closer to him."

Tony took a step closer toward the men who had turned and were retreating back into the club. As he neared the door the bearded man turned and looked at him. Tony flashed his trademark grin. The man simply looked him up and down, sneering slightly, and turned away and walked through the door.

"Did you get that, Abbs?" Tony asked into his comms quietly. Behind him the intoxicated man had finally found his feet and was weaving his way down the sidewalk. Tony could hear him mumbling something about hospitality.

"I got it, Tony." Abby told him as she started running the man's face through the database.

Tony pushed open the door to the club. He stepped into the finely decorated entrance hall and approached the front desk. He leaned an elbow on the surface, tucking his hand into an inside pocket of his jacket, removing his wallet. "One, please." He smiled at the girl seated behind the polished table as he handed her his credit card. She took it between her long nailed fingers and swiped it through the reader before handing it back to him.

"Enjoy your night." She told him in a husky voice, pouting her lips slightly.

"I plan too." He lingered at the desk a few seconds more before a bark of 'DiNozzo' through his earpiece from his Boss made him jump slightly. He headed past the front desk towards a staircase that he knew would take him down into the main of the club. As he descended the first few steps he could hear the heavy thump of music and the smell of alcohol reached him. He stepped down from the last stair and headed straight to the bar. His head was turned towards the stage the entire time and as a result he collided with the bar, miscalculating the distance. He steadied himself as the barman walked over to him raising his eyebrows in question to his desire for a drink.

"Sarsaparilla." The barman gave him a quizzical look. "Designated driver." Tony told him in explanation.

The barman shook his head and gave a small laugh and said 'Tough break.'

Tony paid for his drink and picked up the glass. He turned his attention back to the stage. It was large with a runway that jutted out into the middle of the room. There were chairs around its edge so the punters could have a front row seat. Either side of the back of the stage were two silver poles that reached from floor to ceiling, they were currently supporting two scantily clad women who were dancing round them. As he watched, one of the dancers flick her leg up and wrapped her knee around the pole and lifted her other foot off the floor. She rotated round the pole supported only by the muscles in her leg.

"Wow." He heard McGee's voice in his ear.

"It's not that hard." He heard Abby say in response. "As long as you have enough momentum and some good pole grease anyone can do it." Tony made a mental note to ask Abby for a demonstration at a later date.

"DiNozzo, you see any sign of Wilson or Greaves?" Gibbs voice called out, changing the subject. Tony looked around the club. Most of the booth seating was occupied, parties of men and those on their own enjoying the performance on stage as well as the attention from the girls walking among them.

"It's packed in here tonight, Boss. I don't know if we're going to get anything." The agent lifted his wrist as though to check the time on his watch in the dim light of club, and spoke in to the comms.

"Well, settle in DiNozzo, might as well get the most out of your entrance fee." Tony smiled as he made his way over to a free table and sat himself down at the chair behind it.

"I love my job." He said as he took a sip from his glass. He froze mid swallow when he looked towards the table three over on his left. Two men occupied the table and each were paying great attention to the dancer in their company. She was sat straddled over the lap of one of the men, her face very close to his. His hands were resting on the tops of her thighs and he was staring fixated into her eyes. Her blond hair fell in tight curls, a few of which were pinned back away from her face.

"I'll be at my desk, Abbs, call me if you get anything." The lead agent said gesturing to the photo of the man currently being run through the system. He was two paces from the door when he heard Tony calling him.

"Uh, Boss?" Tony said. "We might have a bit of a problem here." Gibbs turned back towards the screen. "Recognize her?" His agent asked.

Gibbs squinted at the screen. Even in the clubs dim light he knew who the girl was.

"Gibbs isn't that….." Abby trailed off, her eyes flicking between the girl on the screen and Gibbs' face.

"Yeah, it is, Abbs." He said after a brief pause. "Special Agent Hannah Blake."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello folks, Here's your next chapter! Just quickly before you read, i've had a few people ask me who Special Agent Blake is, we have never seen her before, she is a completly new character! she has a history with Gibbs and DiNozzo which will be explained as we move through the story. Their past will be told in a series of flash backs from either Gibbs, Tony, Hannah and Abby's memories, some chapters may include 1 or 2 flash backs and other chapters maye be a whole flash back sequence! I'll make sure to make it clear at the begining if there if a flash back coming up!**

**Anyhoo, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

As Gibbs and Abby stared at the plasma screen in disbelief, Tim and Ziva exchanged a look of puzzlement.

"Boss?" Tim said tentatively.

"But that can't be her!" Abby spluttered. "Can it?" She turned to her mentor seeking conformation.

"Looks like her." He said simply.

"Yeah, but it can't be…it just can't be."

Silence filled the lab for a few moments. "Boss?" Tim took a step closer to the lead agent watching him carefully. "What's going on?"

"That," Abby was the one to answer him. She thrust her hand towards the screen her finger pointing at the face that has drawn such a reaction from them. "Is what's going on, Tim."

"Who is she?" Ziva asked.

"She used to be on this team!" Abby exclaimed.

Ziva turned to Tim, her eyebrows raised. "Before my time." He told her.

"She was here before Kate." Abby said typing furiously at her keyboard. "She trained Tony."

"Hey." All except Gibbs jumped slightly at the sound of Tony's utterance. "I resent that."

"Just except it, Tony." Abby retorted. "Uh, Boss-man?" She turned to their leader after receiving a ding from her computer. Gibbs stepped back to her screen and looked over her shoulder. She had pulled up the woman's driver's license. "According to this, Hannah never worked here." Gibbs squinted at the screen. "According to this, she's not even Hannah." Sure enough next to the woman's photo was the name Katherine Jones.

Gibbs turned his gaze back to the plasma screen. He watched as 'Katherine' looked up from the man whose lap she was astride. Her face fell at a lightning speed when she clocked eyes on his senior agent.

"Boss, she's made me, what do I do?" Tony asked. The surveillance footage flittered around slightly as he adjusted himself in his seat.

"Sit tight, DiNozzo, let her come to you." Gibbs instructed.

"Boss, I'm not sure that's a good idea-"

"Just do it, DiNozzo." Gibbs interjected, his voice hardening slightly.

"Gibbs, what happened? I thought she transferred to the Hawaii field office? Wait…do you think she was like too upset about what happened that she didn't want to be an agent anymore? I mean I know it was a tough case and all and the whole…" She glanced over at Time and Ziva, choosing her words carefully. "…you know…didn't help, but I never thought she would leave, let alone change her name and go and work in a…"

"Abby." Gibbs called to her, interrupting her ramblings. "I don't know what happened."

They watched as, after a few moments, 'Katherine' slid gracefully from her customers lap and stood by his side for a second whilst the man slipped a folded note into the hem of her hot pants. She bent at the waist and planted a kiss on the man's face. As she straightened she turned her head to Tony and started a slow teasing walk over to him. The video shifted again.

"DiNozzo, sit still." Gibbs barked.

The feed stilled again and the watched as the woman stopped in front of Tony.

"You look lonely." She began. "Let me keep you company." She twirled around quickly so her back was to him and lowered herself slowly onto his knee. Tony's eyes were drawn to the exposed flesh of her back. Trailing down her spine from her neck to around midway down was a line of small Hebrew letters, her left shoulder sported a treble clef and a six petal flower sat on her lower back. She turned in his lap so she was sat sideways, her legs dangling over his and she wrapped an arm around his shoulders pulling herself close to him.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?" She murmured through gritted teeth into his ear.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Tony murmured back at her keeping a smile fixed on his face.

"Don't get smart with me, DiNozzo." Tim and Ziva exchanged a look at her impersonal use of his last name. "I know it's been a long time since we've seen each other, but even I know that you would rather die than resort to wearing glasses when you got old. You're on surveillance." It was not a question.

"You going to blow my cover?" He looked up into her face. In the years since he'd seen her she hadn't really changed. Her face showed no signs of aging, her hair looked as good as he remembered and her light grey eyes still held their air of mystery.

"That depends, you going to blow mine?" Before he could answer she took his chin in her free hand and turned his face slightly away from her. As she lent down to kiss his cheek she spotted the earpiece. She reached up behind to the back of her head and removed the slide holding back her curls. She allowed them to fall down around her face creating a curtain behind which he gently pulled the device from Tony's ear and slipped into her own. She then took hold of Tony's left hand and raised it to her mouth and planted a kiss on his palm. "Hello, Jethro." She whispered into the comms clipped to Tony's sleeve as she placed his hand on her cheek.

"Special Agent Blake." Gibbs answered.

"Get you agent out of here." She ordered. "I will not risk him blowing my cover."

"Can't do that, Hannah, we have an investigation to run." He told her shaking his head.

"I don't care about your investigation, Jethro! I have worked too damn hard to let this fall apart now." She paused for a second. "I'll come to the Navy Yard tomorrow at 0800. Just get DiNozzo out of here." With that she pulled the earpiece from her ear and replaced it in Tony's. She climbed from his lap and stood in front of his expectantly, her hands resting on her hips.

Sighing, Tony pulled his wallet from his jacket pocket and took out a ten dollar bill, he folded it once before he reached forward and slipped it into the hem of her pants to join the others already there.

"God." She said as she watched his hands carefully. "I forgot what a lousy tipper you are." She turned without another word and disappeared into the groups of people in the club.

"DiNozzo." Tony jumped out of his thoughts when Gibbs sounded his voice loudly in his ear. "Come home."

* * *

"Oh God, Abby, stop it." Tony demanded. For the fifth time in a space of an hour he had lifted his gaze from his computer screen to find Abby's eyes fixed on him, an uncertain look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Tony; I just…how was she? Did she look good? I mean not in what she was wearing because that's…not that she didn't look hot, I'm sure she did but-" The Goth rambled from her position perched on Gibbs' desk.

"ABBY!" Tony bellowed. He regretted it instantly when he saw the hurt look on his friends face. "I'm sorry, Abbs, I'm just…" He trailed off.

She slipped off Gibbs' desk and clumped over to him in her towering boots. "I know." She said as she moved around his desk to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders hugging him from behind. "Did you feel anything? When you saw her?"

"Good morning." McGee called out before Tony could answer. He stopped in front of Tony's desk and looked down at him closely.

"What?" Tony sighed.

"Nothing." Tim carried on past and settled himself in the chair behind his desk, depositing his backpack on the floor next to his seat. He shot a few more curious glances at his partner as he powered up his computer. Abby stayed where she was, her arms clasped around Tony's neck.

The elevator dinged as the door opened and Ziva stepped out carrying a cardboard tray loaded with paper cups. She stopped in front of Tony's desk and removed one of the cups of coffee, placing it next to his Mighty Mouse stapler.

"Thanks." Tony offered as Ziva smiled at him, holding out a Caf-Pow to Abby.

"You are welcome." The Israeli said as she headed to Tim's desk. As she handed him his coffee she leant forward slightly and said in a low voice "Did you ask him?"

"Not yet." He told her in the same hushed tone.

"Ask me what?" Tony demanded from across the bullpen.

Cursing the agents superb hearing Tim looked over at him. "We wanna know who she is?"

"Who?"

"The woman, last night."

"She-"

"She used to work here then she left." Tony said cutting off the forensics specialist behind him. "That's all you need to know." He turned back to his screen and continued his typing. Tim and Ziva both looked to Abby, their eyebrows raised. She avoided their gaze, chewing on her bottom lip as she cast her eyes downwards to look at her watch.

"It's nearly eight, Tony, you sure you wanna be here?" She asked softly in his ear.

"Abby." He said through gritted teeth. "Don't you have work to do in your lab?" Abby stood up, releasing her arms from Tony's neck and stepped around to the front of his desk to face him.

"I haven't seen her for like eight years, Tony."

"Well I'm sure you can wait a little longer." He told her without looking up from his screen.

"Aren't you even a little excited to see her?" She asked him softly.

"Saw her last night, Abbs."

"Yeah, but you didn't really get a chance to talk…you know…about-"

"There's nothing to talk about." He snapped at her rising from his seat. He was about to excuse himself and escape the shocked looks of his team members at his outburst when the elevator dinged once more. The sound drew the gaze of all four pairs of eyes. The doors slid open and the cause of Tony's tension stepped out. She was almost unrecognizable from the woman they had seen on the surveillance feed the night before. Her blond curls had disappeared and were replaced by poker straight flowing locks which had been tied neatly back into a single pony tail. The tattoos they had glimpsed were covered by the smart black pants suit she wore teamed with a simple white shirt under the jacket to which was pinned her visitors pass.

"Hannah!" Abby squealed as she moved as quickly as she could towards the woman in her platforms. The pair stumbled slightly at the force of the hug Abby threw around her old friend.

"It's good to see you too, Abbs." The woman laughed returning the hug. As they parted Abby delivered a not-so-gentle punch to her arm. "Ouch!" Hannah clasped the spot Abby had hit with her opposite hand.

"What was that for?"

"No phone calls, no letters…eight years, Hannah!" The Goth exclaimed.

"I know, I'm sorry, Abby." Hannah admitted sheepishly. "I should have got in touch. I just…" She caught sight, over Abby's shoulder, of DiNozzo sat behind his desk. His eyes quickly darted back to his computer screen. "I needed to separate myself from this place." She added quietly.

Abby let out a small sigh. "I understand." She said giving Hannah a smile which she returned. "Come here. I wanna introduce you." She grasped Hannah's hand tightly in her own and spun around dragging Hannah with her around the partition and into the team's area. "You already know Tony." Abby said with a comical tone to her voice as she pulled Hannah past his desk. "This is Very Special Agent Timothy McGee."

"Hi." Tim said, holding out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

"And you." Hannah said shaking his hand and scrutinizing his face. "You look kind of familiar, have we met before?" She asked him.

"He's also Thom E Gemcity, author of Deep Six." Abby pointed to a copy of McGee's novel which sat on a shelf behind Ziva's desk. "Which is based on this team."

"That's where I know you from. Your picture's on the back of the jacket. I'll have to bring in my copy, get you to sign it for me." She grinned teasingly at him. Tim's cheeks flushed red and he gave a small nervous laugh.

"It's not based on this team." He told Abby exasperatedly. "It's not." He said turning to Hannah.

"And this," Abby said turning to Ziva. "Is Probationary Special Agent Ziva David."

"Hello." Ziva said holding out her hand just as McGee had.

"Hey, how long have you been at NCIS?"

"Almost six years." Ziva told her.

"Six years?" Hannah repeated, puzzled. "And you're still a probie?"

"I was a Mossad Liaison Officer when I first started here." Ziva explained. "I have only just recently become an American citizen and a full time agent."

"Mossad?" Hannah mused. "Why the change, if you don't mind me asking."

"I do not mind." Ziva said. "Even though I was not welcome here at first-"

"Her brother killed Kate." Abby cut in.

"Half-brother." Tony called from his desk.

"Who's Kate?" Hannah asked.

"Kate?" At this Tony rose from his desk and sauntered over to the group. "Kate is the agent who took over from you." He said pointedly. "Secret Service. When we first met her she was protecting the President."

"Of…" Hannah feigned ignorance. Tony ignored her attempt to riel him. "Why did he kill her?" She asked the group at large when Tony refused to answer her.

"He was a terrorist." Ziva said simply.

"She shot him." Abby added.

"Who?"

"Her brother."

"Half-brother." Tony said again.

"Why did you shoot your half-brother?" Hannah asked perplexed.

"Because he was trying to kill the Boss-man."

"Why?" Hannah was getting more and more confused.

"Because he was a terrorist." Tony said. Hannah looked at Ziva, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"He needed to be stopped, so I killed him." Hannah was stunned at the lack of emotion in her voice when she spoke the last part.

"Wow." She said after a short pause.

"See? You missed **all** the excitement, Hannah." Tony smiled smugly at her. "Maybe if you hadn't run away when things got tough you might have been around for it."

"Don't start, DiNozzo." Hannah warned him.

"Wait, if you hadn't left then we wouldn't have needed a new agent which means Kate wouldn't have joined which means Ari would never have shot her, which means Ziva would never have turned up and we wouldn't be here now." By the time he finished his tirade his voice had risen significantly.

"Look, what is your problem, DiNozzo?" Hannah snapped. "I'm sorry that we had to meet again like this. It's not exactly easy for me either."

"I'm just sorry we had to meet again at all." Tim, Abby and Ziva had all taken a step back to further them from the inevitable explosion.

"I'm only here 'cause I don't have a choice. You might have blown my cover last night. I have worked damn hard over the last four months to get where I am in that club. I am not just going to lie down and let you ruin my op!"

"Oh, come on, Hannah, we both know you do your best work lying down!" Tony said his voice dripping with malice.

A silence fell over them all at Tony's last words. Hannah's mouth was slightly agape and she looked as though she were about to lash out and hit the Italian.

"DINOZZO!" Each and every one of them jumped when Gibbs' voice hollered from the top stairs to MTAC.

"Yes, Boss."

"BLAKE!"

"Yes, Boss…Gibbs." Hannah mentally kicked herself for the slip of the tongue.

"Conference room." He descended the last few steps at double pace and marched past them heading towards the elevator. "NOW!" He bellowed when he realized they weren't following him. The entire office was silent. Each person in the room watched and Hannah and Tony followed Gibbs into the elevator and the doors slid closed.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Here you go folks, nice long chapter for you! You get a bit of background in this one! just a bit! Just quickly before you read on, i wasn't sure what car Tony is driving as of Season 8 and i'm not much of a car person. I know his, i think it was a mustang, was blown up in season 4 but i wasnt sure if he just got a replacement! if anyone knows about his cars i will gladly change it in this!**

**Towards the end of this chapter is a flashback which is written in _ITALICS!_ Enjoy!**

**Thank you to STLFAN for loyally reading and reviewing every chapter so far! And thank you to bluepenreader for pointing out my silly mistake in the story summery of 'grizzly' and 'grisly'! Dyslexics rule, KO?**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The two agents remained silent as the doors slid closed. Angry, Gibbs didn't bother to put the elevator in motion he simply flipped the emergency stop switch and plunged them into semi-darkness. Slowly he turned to face Tony and Hannah.

"Boss, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Jethro, I apologize. DiNozzo-"

"ENOUGH." Gibbs bellowed. Both Hannah and Tony stopped mid-sentence. "Special Agent DiNozzo." He turned to his senior agent first. "You are the senior agent on this team, act like it." His voice had dropped to a low murmur; both of them however could still hear the anger hiding there. "Special Agent Blake." He said turning to Hannah. "Wipe that smirk off your face." He ordered seeing the satisfied grin on her face at Tony's dressing down. She complied instantly, keeping her eyes fixed on something just past Gibbs left ear. "Whilst you are in my house you respect me and you respect my team."

"Yes, Sir…Gibbs." She corrected herself at his stern look.

"This ends here." He warned. He turned and flicked the switch back up, turning the elevator lights back to full. When the doors slid open a body stumbled into through them. Correcting himself, McGee cleared his throat uttered a quick 'Sorry, Boss' before turning and quickly heading back to his desk, Ziva and Abby following, sheepish looks on their faces.

Gibbs stepped out shaking his head. He couldn't help but be amused at their attempt of eaves dropping through the thick metal elevator doors. As he sat down at his desk Ziva held out the remaining cup of coffee. He accepted it nodding his head in thanks as Tony and Hannah walked back into the bullpen, glaring at each other.

"Haven't got all day." He said pointedly looking up at Hannah after taking a long sip of his beverage. Hannah slipped her bag off her shoulder and opened it, pulling out several manila folders. She picked one from the top of the pile and dropped it onto Gibbs' desk.

"William Greaves." She said matter of factly. "I assume he's the reason you were there last night." Gibbs looked past her and nodded to McGee who tapped a command into his computer. The faces of the five victims appeared on the screen.

"In the past month five marine and navy personal have been found-"

"Beaten to death in the vicinity of the club, yeah, I know." Said Hannah cutting Tim off.

"You knew about the killings?" Tim asked.

"You didn't try to stop them?" Tony asked incredulously.

"We didn't know about them until after." Hannah defended.

"We?" Hannah turned to her old Boss.

"My team. You think I'd do undercover on my own in a place like that?" She laughed. "There's two of us in there, myself backstage and one of my agents is working the bar and a third in a van outside at all times."

"Your team?" Questioned Tony.

"Yeah, DiNozzo, my team. I'm a lead field agent in the Hawaii office." She told him with a smirk.

"Why is your team there, Hannah?" Gibbs asked her before Tony could make a snide retort.

"Six months ago we were called aboard the USS Albany to investigate the suspected overdose of a submariner, a petty officer. Six weeks prior to his death the Albany had been in port in Norfolk, whilst on shore leave he and a few of his shipmates visited the club." Hannah searched through the remaining files in her hand to find the case report on the overdose. When she located it she held it out for Gibbs. He took it and laid it on his desk and leafed through the pages, scanning them quickly.

"We interviewed the crew that were there that night and they revealed that the victim, petty officer Choi, and his bunkmate, petty officer Marlow disappeared for a private dance at some point during the evening. When they returned they were seen to be pocketing bags of white powder. Our lab tests on the victim revealed it to be cocaine. Petty office Marlow admitted to him and Choi buying enough to keep them comfortable for their time aboard ship. Before we could get to the club to investigate further we were notified that three more ships had found cocaine from the same club during random bunk searches."

"How do you know they were from the same club?" Ziva asked.

"Each member of the crew who were found in possession gave us the same information, the only thing that was different was the girl they bought it from." Hannah informed. "Once of them told us that he was approached by an employee at the club who told him that if he was lonely while he was in port he could be provided with company, for the right price. We suspected a prostitution ring being run by the management but we knew that we would get nothing if we questioned the dancers directly. Women in that line of work are like clams. They close up as soon as their questioned about the workings of a gentleman's club. So we put in our application for undercover surveillance and it was accepted."

"And you volunteered yourself?" Tony said snidely.

"I'm the only woman on my team. Somehow I don't think a man in drag would have cut it."

Gibbs scrutinized her for a moment before asking 'How long have you been in?'

"Four months. Word from a metro PD informant was that Greaves was looking for new dancers. So we took the opportunity. I auditioned, got the job." She said proudly.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Tony muttered under his breath.

"Between me and my agent on the bar we have the club pretty well covered." Hannah said ignoring the Italian's comment.

"So are you anywhere near making an arrest?" Tony bated.

"No. This thing is much bigger than we originally thought. The suspected prostitution, it's bad. The younger girls or the new ones who haven't been doing it long, they're the ones that get targeted. They're easier to break. One of Greaves' employees," She handed Gibbs another folder. "Nick Roberts, he's the first one to approach them. He flirts with them, tells them how great they are at dancing then says that the Boss would like to see them. From what I've gathered from some of the other girls and from eavesdropping on conversations between Roberts and this man," She gave Gibbs the last folder. "Joseph Wilson, they get the girls hooked on drugs then use it against them to break their spirits and force them into the prostitution. They sell them right out of the club. Each night they'll leave with a different punter, some of them turn up to work covered in bruises, others-"

"Disappear." Gibbs finished for her.

"How did you know?" Hannah urged. Gibbs looked at her his eyebrows raised. "Right." She said with a chuckle. "I guess that gut's as good as ever."

"Bring your team in." Gibbs said rising from his chair and handing Hannah back her files. "We're merging our investigations."

"We are?" Hannah said amused.

"Yup." Gibbs said simply as he retrieved his service weapon and badge from his desk draw and clipped them onto his belt. He rounded the desk and headed out of the bullpen. Hannah quickly stuffed the files back into her bag and chased after him.

"Gibbs?" She caught up with him at the elevator. "I'm…I'm sorry it took me so long to come back." She said with a soft whisper.

Gibbs nodded and looked away from her for a moment. Her sudden reappearance into his and DiNozzo's lives was no doubt going to rock the boat. Hell, he'd already seen evidence of that and she'd barely been in the building on hour. On the odd occasion when they had a quiet day with no current investigations, they would open the cold case cabinet. A few of the files held her signature. Upon seeing her handwriting he would ponder on the weeks leading up to her sudden departure. He often blamed himself for not stepping in and bringing the matters between her and DiNozzo to a close. He had thought them capable of solving the issues themselves.

"It's good to see you, Hannah." He breathed.

"It's good to see you too." She said releasing the breath she wasn't aware she was holding. "Ooh rah." She smiled.

Gibbs couldn't help but release a chuckle as the elevator doors slid open and he stepped in. "Ooh rah." He repeated as the doors slid closed.

"Hey." A small voice said after a few seconds. She turned to see Abby standing a few steps away, a sympathetic look on her face. "You ok?" She asked Hannah.

"Yeah, Abbs, I'm ok." Hannah told her with a genuine smile on her face. Abby stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around her old friend once more. "You're not going to hit me again are you?" Hannah asked jokingly.

"Be nice to Tony." Abby said softly as she pulled back from the hug. "You didn't see him after you left." Hannah took in the sad look on Abby's face. "You got some new ink." The Goth said changing the subject.

"What? Oh, yeah." Hannah realized that Abby must have seen the surveillance footage from the night before. "Yeah, a few new ones. So have you by the looks of things."

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Abby smirked.

"Maybe later, Abbs." She said with a laugh.

"Deal."

Hannah turned and pushed open the door to the stairwell. Abby watched her old friends descend the stairs until to the door finally swung closed. She spun around and moved through the partitions back to her lab. Ziva and Tim watched her go. Tim cast a glance in Tony's direction. He was staring unseeing at his computer screen, his finger playing over the surface of his Mighty Mouse stapler. Feeling that Tony would not notice if they disappeared for a few moments he caught Ziva's eye and nodded his head in the direction Abby had taken. She gave him a confirming nod and the two of them slipped from the bullpen.

Four minutes later they were standing outside the door to Abby's lab silently debating who should enter first.

"I know you're there!" Abby's voice sang out to them from inside the lab. Tim poked his head through the door looking guilty.

"Can we come in?"

"Timmy, when have you ever had to ask to come into my lab?"

"Good point." He said as he walked in with Ziva close behind. Abby turned back to her microscope and slipped a slide out from under the metal grips and swapped it for a second slide.

No one spoke for a few moments. It was Abby who finally broke the silence. "What do you want?" She asked accusingly without taking her eyes from the microscope viewpoints.

"I…that is…" Tim stumbled. "We…we wanted…"

"Spit it out, McGee." Abby spun her chair around to face him.

The apples of Tim's cheeks flushed slightly as he cast one last confirming look at Ziva. "Wewanttoknowwhosheis!" He blurted out. Abby raised her finely plucked eyebrows at him as the smile fell from her face.

"Who?" She asked feigning innocence, spinning her chair back round to her desk, casting her eyes back to the substance under the slide.

"Special Agent Blake." Said Ziva. "I get the impression that she and Tony do not like each other."

"Abby?" Tim said when she didn't respond. He gave to back of her chair a soft nudge and it turned her back to face them again. "We just want to know what we're going to have to put up with."

"There's not really much to tell." Abby told them shrugging her shoulders. "She worked here for a couple of years then she left."

"Abby, we know there's more to it than that." Tim said with a laugh.

"Yeah, Tim, there is. But I can't tell you. It wouldn't be right."

* * *

Hannah took a deep breath as she stepped out of the front entrance. She let her head fall back onto her shoulders and closed her eyes against the early morning sun. She had expected it to be hard seeing DiNozzo and Gibbs again, but she hadn't expected Tony to bring her to the verge of tears. _"Oh, come on, Hannah, we both know you do your best work lying down!" _His words rang in her ears.

She pulled her keys from her pocket and started across the parking lot to the visitors section. As she passed through the agent's parking spaces she spotted a burgundy 67 mustang. She gave an exasperated sigh as she glanced towards the front of the car to confirm it belonged to whom she thought. Sure enough, on a post in front of the bumper a sign read 'Special Agent A. DiNozzo'.

"_Excuse me, sorry." She pardoned as she rushed through security in the main entrance of the NCIS field team building. "Hold the elevator." She called out as the doors began to close. A hand reached out from inside and held onto the closing door. It stopped midway and slid back open again. "Thanks." She said, rushing into the elevator car, pulling the strap of her back pack firmly back onto her shoulder. _

"_No problem."_

_She looked up at the owner of the voice, brushing back the hair that had escaped her ponytail in her rush across the parking lot. He was tall, about 6' 1", good looking she noticed. He had an extremely charming smile on his face. 'A ladies man' she thought to herself. She gave him a flustered smile as she reached out to push the button for her floor. Seeing it already lit she pulled back her hand and resumed the tidying of her hair. She was twenty minutes late. Her never absent, never late record had just gone out the window. Cursing under her breath she squeezed through the gap as soon as the doors began to open. She was so preoccupied with her tardiness that she hadn't noticed the man from the lift following her into the bullpen._

"_What time is it, Agent Blake?" Gibbs asked her without looking up from his screen as she rushed past him and rounded her desk._

"_I'm sorry, Boss." Hannah said as she unclipped her gun and badge from the waistband of her pants and slipped them into the top draw of her desk. "Some jackass with a mustang parked in my spot, I had to circle the visitor's lot twice before I found a space." She dumped her backpack on the floor after retrieving a file from its depths. She headed back to Gibbs desk and stood in front holding out the folder for him. "Here's my report from the Parish case."_

_He took the folder silently and placed it on the top of a pile to his left waiting to be signed. As she turned to head to her desk she saw the man standing slightly behind her to her left._

"_You're late, Detective." She heard from Gibbs behind her. _

"_I apologize, Agent Gibbs. I had a little trouble getting my pass from security." Hannah looked down at the man's chest and saw the pass clipped onto the lapel of his jacket. '_Anthony D. DiNozzo, Visitors Pass_'. _

_"Hi." He said, holding out his hand for Hannah to shake. "Tony DiNozzo, jackass with a mustang." _

"_You own that heap of junk?" She asked incredulously._

"_It's not a heap of junk; it's a vintage 67 mustang." He said defensively. _

"_Hmm, I thought I spotted a patch of rust over the rear right wheel." Hannah said snidely. Before the man could make a retort, Hannah turned back to Gibbs. "Who the hell is this guy?" She asked gesturing over her shoulder at him with her thumb._

"_I'm your new team member." The man called from behind her. _

"_The guy from Baltimore PD?" Gibbs looked up at her, his trademark blank look on his face. "This," She threw her thumb over her shoulder again. "Is the homicide detective you were raving about?" Gibbs rolled his eyes at the look of pride that washed over the young man's face. _

_Six weeks ago the third member of their team had handed in his resignation to the director out of the blue, early retirement he had called it. Gibbs had been perusing the files of potential replacements for two weeks when he had been called to Baltimore. An old friend from his days in the Marine Corps had been busted for dealing cannabis. Now that he was retired from the marines he was a civilian and was being held at a local police station. His one phone call had been to Gibbs asking for help. Although he knew there was not a lot he could do, the agent had made to trip to Baltimore. The detective handling the case was one Anthony DiNozzo. The homicide detective was on a detachment to the narcotics department for a few weeks. _

_Gibbs first impression of the young Italian had been that he was the joker of the pack. He had spent three days working with the man on the case and it had been three days of incessant movie references, sexist jokes, flirts with the female officers and filing clerks. But Gibbs had noticed his superb skills as a detective, his ability to spot things on a crime scene that even the most seasoned of cops would have missed; his interrogation technique had been unique to say the least. _

_Gibbs had watched from the observation room as DiNozzo had questioned another member of the drug ring. He had wondered idly into the room, flopped down into the chair, reclined and kicked his feet up onto the table. He had then leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Gibbs was unsure whether he had in fact fallen asleep or was conscious the entire time but he stayed in that position for exactly thirty minutes. By the time he gave a stretch and slipped his feet from the table, the detainee was itching to get out of there. The man had given a full confession and included the names of his dealing partners._

_As he left the station to head back to DC he offered Tony a spot on his team. "You think I could be an agent?" The young man had asked._

"_Maybe." Gibbs had told him with a straight face. "You think you'd be ok working under a female superior?" It was then that DiNozzo earned his first Gibbs-slap. The young detective had a smart remark on the tip of his tongue when Gibbs' hand connected with the back of his head. "Rule number twelve. Never date a co-worker." He said stepping so close to the man they were almost nose to nose. With that the silver man had turned and opened his car door._

"_Is that on official NCIS rule?" The Italian asked._

"_Nope, one of mine."_

"_How many more do you have?"_

"_Lots."_

"_Are they in the welcome manual?" Gibbs smiled shaking his head as he climbed into his car and started the engine. He rolled down the window and held out his card to the detective._

"_You'll train up good, DiNozzo." He said simply before he pushed his foot on the gas and drove off._

"_Do you have a problem with taking orders from a woman?" Hannah asked softly, stepping close to him clasping her hands behind her back to slightly push her chest out._

"_Will those orders get me killed?" Tony asked as he cocked one eyebrow, his eyes on her chest._

"_They might." Hannah told him honestly._

"_Good." He said lifting his eyes to meet hers. "I like a little action in my life." He slipped his most charming smile onto his handsome face._

"_That," She said pointing to his smile. "Will not work on me. Oh, and another thing." She said as she turned back to her desk. "You park in my spot again, and I will shoot you."_

She smiled sadly to herself as she slid behind the steering wheel of her car. Could it really have been eight years since she had seen them all? She couldn't blame Abby's anger at her. She had never spoken to any of them again. As she inserted the key in the ignition she realized, she was ashamed of herself.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hey folks, this chapter gave me alot of trouble which you'll probebly see when you read it! I hate writing the chapters that fill in between the good stuff! Thanks again to all those who have reviewed! Keep at it, it does truly make us write faster! To those that havn't review yet, please do, it takes only seconds unlike the hours it takes us to write!**

**Again just to let you know that flashbacks are written in _ITALICS!_**

**By the way, what did people think of the new agent EJ? I'm not too sure about her! her and Tony sure seemed to get close quick!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

The error message continued to flash on his computer screen but it went unnoticed to Tony. His gaze although fixed on the screen remained unfocused. His breathing was slowly returning to normal but the slight shake to the fingers hovering over his keyboard gave away his calming anger. It had hardly seemed to bother her that this was the first time he had seen her since the day she'd left. After all they had been through together; she failed to contact him, even once.

"Anthony?" The soft Scottish lilt drifted through his thoughts. "Anthony?"

Blinking slowly, refocusing his eyes he drew them upwards to Ducky's kind face. "Huh?"

"I asked if it were true." The ME said.

"What's true?" Tony asked, confused.

"That Hannah has returned."

"Uh…yeah, well, no. She hasn't really returned. We sorta stumbled on her last night. Undercover case." Tony said trying to keep his face as blank as possible.

"She's working a case in Washington?" Ducky asked in disbelief. "Well, how long has she been back?"

"I…I dunno, Ducky, a couple of months I think." Tony tried to dismiss the conversation.

"I wonder why she didn't come down to see me. She, unlike you lot, was always genuinely interested in my tales of the old." Tony looked into the old man's face. He didn't have the heart to tell Ducky that Hannah simply used to humor his stories. She had confided in Tony once that, at first, she had enjoyed sitting with Ducky and listening to him reminisce over a pot of tea. But after a year she began to find them a chore to listen to. 'I can't tell him, he reminds me of my gramps.' She had said.

"Anthony?" Ducky called again. "Anthony, are you alright." Tony zoned back into the room and met the concerned gaze coming from Ducky.

"Uh, yeah, Ducky, I'm fine." He said plastering his usual confident smile on his face. "Why wouldn't I be, just a blast from the past is all."

"Yes, yes, I suppose you're right." Ducky nodded. "I never did find out why she left. Did Jethro ever tell you her reasons?"

Tony remembered that all Ducky knew of the events in the weeks before Hannah left was that she and Tony had been working a case which had not ended well. Even Abby was unaware of what had transpired. Only Gibbs and Abby knew the whole story. Tony's mentor never brought up the subject again after that day but Tony knew the team leader had been extremely disappointed in both of them for their handling of the situation.

"No, Ducky. He never told me." He said softly, avoiding Ducky's eyes. Had he looked up Tony would have seen the skepticism in the ME's eyes. Dr. Mallard knew that Hannah and Tony had been close, he left his autopsy cave often enough to observe their interactions.

Tony's relationship to Kate had been strained from the off. Many of the staff in the building would have put it down to sexual tension. But The ME had other suspicions. Kate was employed only three short days after Hannah's disappearance and Ducky was convinced that with the short space of time combined with the, to him, unknown happenings of the case and Kate's strong personality matching Hannah's perfectly, this was enough to put Tony on edge.

His relationship with Kate improved over the two years she worked at NCIS, but their real binding moment, when their friendship was secured to last, occurred only a few weeks before Kate's tragic death. When Tony had been infected with the plague, Kate had lied to him, saying she was infected too so as not to leave him on his own in the quarantine chamber. In the hours they spent together in confinement, Tony's breathing getting ragged, his body getting weaker, Kate saw him drop the frat boy persona and saw the genuine fear in his eyes. When Tony was finally released from hospital it was Kate who drove him home, Kate who stayed with him till he fell asleep, Kate who stayed through the first few nights to keep watch on his breathing, Kate who applied a cool cloth to his forehead and salve to his broken and bleeding lips.

Tony had taken her death hard. To have lost two close female colleges in as many years affected every agent in the building, but none felt the loss so heavily but Tony and Gibbs. Being the lead agent Gibbs was responsible for his team. Tony had driven to his boss's house on the night of Kate's death to offer Gibbs his support as well as seek for some for himself. The two had talked over a bottle of bourbon, by the boat, in the basement. The conversation had been mainly one sided, Gibbs offered a few words here and there, but it was Tony who talked the most. He talked about Kate, he briefly spoke about Hannah and their last case, and he talked about losing his partner back at Baltimore PD.

"We know it's bound to happen one day, so why are we surprised when that day comes?" Tony had asked Gibbs. Gibbs swallowed down the lump in his own throat when he looked up to see Tony's eyes filled with tears. Only one fell, he swiped it quickly away with his thumb. "It comes with the job, right? If you get in a shootout there's a damn good chance you're going to get shot." He took a deep breath. "But when it happens…" Tony couldn't finish his sentence.

"You're never prepared, Tony." Gibbs said softly after a long pause. "No matter how many years you've been in the job. It never gets easier." He stood from his perch on the sawhorse and walked over to where his agent was sat on the frame of his latest boat. He refilled Tony's empty glass. "The day you're not shocked, surprised, hurt…that's when you gotta worry." He set down the bottle and laid his hand on Tony's agent giving it a firm squeeze.

"Anthony?" Tony drifted slowly out of his reverie, Ducky had moved around the desk, he had his hand on the agents shoulder and was squeezing it, bringing Tony back into the room. "Anthony, are you alright?" Ducky asked, concern flooding his voice.

"Yeah, Duck, I'm fine." He repeated.

"You were unresponsive, Anthony."

"I was just thinking, Ducky, that's all."

"Yes, well, thinking doesn't usually put you in a catatonic state."

"Ducky!" The agent snapped. "I'm fine!"

Ducky held his hands up in submission and took a step backwards. "I know to pick my battles wisely. Tell Hannah, when she returns, to come down for a cup of tea." He said before turning and heading out of the bullpen.

"Ducky…" Tony called after him. He cursed himself for snapping at the old man. He knew the doctor meant well, he always did, but everyone got frustrated with him at some point or other.

Tony sank back into his chair and closed his eyes, rubbing his hands over his face in an attempt to hide himself from the world.

"_DINOZZO!" He heard Hannah yell at the top of her lungs. He remained where he was, hidden behind the partition of the neighboring team's area. Special Agent Chris Pacci looked down at him where he crouched beside his desk._

"_I'd run if I were you." He told him quietly. "Gibbs isn't the only ex-marine around here. _

"_She was a marine?" Tony whispered up at him with a hint of fear._

"_No such thing as _was_ a marine, DiNozzo." Tony's head snapped round at the sound of Gibbs' voice. His new boss was leaning on the partition and looking down at him._

"_Hey, Boss." Tony said. "Is she mad?" He asked uncertainly. _

"_Why don't you take a look?" Gibbs said quietly, taking his arms from the partition and turning back to his side of the bullpen._

_Slowly, Tony rose to his feet and peeked over the partition. There was Hannah, standing behind her desk, fuming. She held her hands out in front of her, shaking them slightly. Tony couldn't help the grin that crossed his face. Each of Hannah's eight fingers and two thumbs were stuck to her keyboard. She looked up as she gave her hands a particularly violent shake; she spotted the top of Tony's head._

"_DINOZZO!" She yelled again. "I swear to God, I am going to kick your ass this time." Tony cast a sideways look at his boss then hot footed it to the elevator. Behind him he heard Hannah bellowing _

_'Don't you dare, DiNozzo!' as he slipped in through the elevator doors. When they opened again a few seconds later depositing him on the ground floor he came face to face with Gibbs._

"_Bit of white spirit is all she needs, Boss." He said lightly, taking a small plastic bottle from him pocket and holding it up for Gibbs to see. "The glue will dissolve in a few seconds."_

_Gibbs said nothing, he merely raised his hand and wiggled his finger a few times beckoning Tony to follow him. They walked past the main entrance and down a corridor that Tony had not yet investigated. Gibbs turned left and pushed open a door in front of him. They stepped out of the building into a small courtyard, the brisk December chill whipping around them. A light flurry of snow was staring to fall from the sky. Gibbs' pace didn't falter as Tony's did when they hit the cold air, his long stride over the gravel left footprints in the settling flakes. _

_Tony wrapped his long arms around his torso, wishing for a jacket, as he quickened his pace to keep up with Gibbs. The lead agent stopped when they reached the far stone wall of the courtyard. Tony looked up at the wall. Affixed to the stone surface was a thick sheet of granite, carved into it were many names. On the ground against the wall stood a number of candles, some lit; some extinguished by the wind, a few bunches of flowers and a small stuffed bear._

_Gibbs remained silent still as he crouched down, pulling a cigarette lighter from his pocket. He lit each of the extinguished candles one by one. When he finished he reached out and ghosted his fingers over the head of the teddy bear. "No offence, Boss, but this is kind of morbid!" Tony exclaimed, bouncing on the spot in an attempt to keep warm. Gibbs straightened up and looked at his newest team member. "Is this where you tell me to grow up? That I'll be a great agent one day and that my name will be carved on the wall for people to come and worship?" _

"_Nope." Gibbs said honestly, his face blank. He pointed his finger to a name on the wall without looking. "Special Agent Schneider, asshole, hated by everyone is this building." Tony was unsure whether to laugh or be shocked at Gibbs' insult of a dead agent. "Special Agent Parish, incompetent." He pointed to another name, again, without looking. "Special Agent Mannings, practical joker. Special Agent Emery, gifted linguist. Special Agent Hall, sang all day long. Special Agent Hubbard, computer geek." He pointed to one last name. "Special Agent Murray, never put a foot wrong, went unnoticed his entire career until a perp put a bullet through him."_

"_What's the moral, Boss?" Tony asked._

"_Many different types of people work in this building. Different personalities, different methods of organization or interrogation, some are bossy, some are arrogant-" Gibbs took a step closer to him. "And some are downright annoying. But we find a way to work together." He held out his hand, palm facing up. Tony, knowing what he wanted, dug into his pocket and pulled out the small bottle of white spirit. He placed it in Gibbs' hand. Gibbs grasped it then turned his hand the other way up holding it out for Tony to take back. Tony nodded as he took it and turned, hurrying back across the courtyard and back into the building._

_When Gibbs followed a few minutes later Tony was sat next to Hannah at her desk, the bottle of white spirit open in front of them, they were laughing as he dabbed, with a Q-Tip, at the pads of Hannah's fingers stuck to the keys._

"Tony." Tony drew his eyes from the spot where the doctor had disappeared and looked at Gibbs, noting the rare use of his first name. "Take an early lunch. Get some fresh air, clear your head." He told him softly. "It's going to be a long afternoon."

Silently Tony nodded before standing and retrieving his badge and gun. He walked out of the bullpen without a backwards glance.

* * *

"I made a promise, Timmy." Abby said, her resolve wavering.

"We just want to know what we're going to have to put up with." Tim told her.

"They slept together." Ziva said matter-of-factly. "Yes?" When Tim looked at her, his eyebrows raised she added 'It is obvious.' He turned to Abby seeking conformation. She simply turned back to her computer and tapped away at the keyboard avoiding their eyes.

"I'll take that as a' yes'." Tim said.

"You'll take that as a 'get back to work'." Ziva and Tim jumped slightly as Gibbs marched into the room. He stood directly beside Abby who turned to meet his gaze, guiltily. "Go, I want more details on the club and employees." He ordered without taking his eyes from Abby.

"Yes, Boss." The two agents left the lab reluctantly.

"I didn't say anything, Gibbs, I swear." Abby said defending herself. "I kept my promise."

"I know." Gibbs said after appraising her for a few seconds. "That's one of the reasons why you're my favorite."

* * *

"You ok, Hannah?"

"Uh…yeah, just old memories." Hannah said looking at her two agents. The three has arrived at the navy yard after lunch to meet with Gibbs as promised. Truth be told Hannah would have given anything to never have to step foot back in the familiar building ever again. The sudden re-acquaintance with Gibbs and DiNozzo had turned her world upside down. Now, not only did she have to process her feelings about working with the two again, she had to keep her focus on the case. She only had a few hours before she had to be at the club.

"You used to work here?"

"Yeah, long time ago." She took a deep breath as the elevator door slid open and she led the way to where Gibbs was standing with his agents in front of the plasma screen. "Agent Gibbs?" She called. "Special Agent Owen Addison and Special Agent James Kendry. Owen, James, this is Special Agent Gibbs." Gibbs shook both agents' hands. The members of Gibbs' team introduced themselves to Hannah's one by one. Tony recognized Special Agent Kendry as the bartender from the night before.

"What's in the boxes?" Gibbs asked referring to the large cardboard boxes each of Hannah's agents held.

"Transcripts of every conversation myself and James have had at the club." She took the first box from James and placed in on Tony's desk then did the same with the box from Owen. "I know how through you are; I thought you'd like copies."

"Any in particular stand out?" Tony asked. He had taken the lid off the top box and was leafing through a handful of pages. "There's gotta be thousands of pages in here."

"You'd better get started then, DiNozzo." Gibbs said dryly.

"McGoo." Tony said turning to the junior agent. "Paper trails are your thing." He said grinning. "Knock yourself out." He held out the box. Tim took it rolling his eyes at Tony.

"I'll give you a hand." Owen said stepping forward and collecting the second box.

"Thank you, Special Agent Addison."

"Call me Owen, we don't really stand on formality in our team."

"McGee." They all noticed Gibbs' use of Tim's last name, as though he was trying to make a point. "Use the conference room."

"Yes, Boss." He and Owen headed over to the elevator.

"James is my man on the bar." Hannah informed them. "He sees everything that happened on the club floor."

"What can you tell us?" Gibbs asked as he perched on the edge of his desk.

"Well, no drugs or money exchange hands in public view. It's all done in the private rooms upstairs. The only way to access them is with one of the dancers. The keys are kept behind the bar and have to be signed in and out by the girls."

"What about the prostitution ring?" Gibbs enquired.

"Again any exchange of money is done behind closed doors. We have managed to place a few cameras around the club. As bar staff I have access to every room in the building to deliver drinks and collect glasses. We have cameras in each of the private rooms, one behind the bar and Hannah's been able to get one backstage."

"Dressing rooms?" Tony asked hopefully.

"We haven't been able to get one in Greaves' office yet." Hannah said ignoring Tony. "There's always someone in there."

"What about sound? You've been recording conversations, where are your mics?" Asked Gibbs.

"Both of us are wired each night and I have a mic on my table in the dressing room."

"May I ask how you hide a microphone in your costume?" Ziva asked bewildered. "From what I saw last night there cannot be many places to hide one."

"Owen's our tech guy; you'd be amazed what he can do." James said. Tony noticed the flush that crept across Hannah's cheeks at the mention of her minimal attire the night before.

"Can we get copies?" Gibbs requested.

"Already done." Hannah's agent pulled a few flash drives from his pocket and held them out.

"Ziva, take agent Kendry down to Abby. Get her to run the tapes." Ziva held out her hand indicating for James to follow her. "Get her to run some voice analysis."

Hannah noticed that it was now just the three of them standing there. An awkward silence fell over them.

"What do you want me to do, Boss?" Tony asked him. He was shifting from one foot to the other, his want to be given a job that would take him out of the room obvious.

"I want you to learn everything you can about the case from Special Agent Blake."

"Why?" Tony asked following his boss when he took a few steps in the direction of the stairwell to autopsy.

"Because, DiNozzo, you're joining them undercover." He looked at them both before he disappeared out of sight. "Play nice." He ordered.

"Great." Tony muttered under his breath, flopping down into his chair.

"I see you took my desk." She observed quietly.

"It has the comfiest chair." He stated.

"You could have just switched chairs."

"What is this really about, Hannah?" He snapped, losing his patience.

"Nothing." She said softly. "Just trying to make conversation." She perched on the edge of Ziva's desk and looked at him. Other than a few lines to his perfect skin he handed changed. He was still extremely handsome with his tanned skin and brilliant green eyes. She remembered the women fawning over him during the last case they worked together. It had been hard to hide her jealously over the attention he gave them.

"I like the view from here." Tony admitted. "You can see everyone who comes and goes from the elevator." He paused for a second, thinking. "Gibbs still catches me out every now and then, sneaks up behind me." He let out a small chuckle which Hannah joined in with.

"You look good, Tony." He voice was soft, not a hint of sarcasm, hate or bitterness. "You been working on those abs?" She asked with a smile.

Tony returned the grin. "Every now and then." He said. "I have to say, you don't look as good as you did last night." Hannah sighed, rolling her eyes at the comment that was typical of the DiNozzo she knew. She took an immense comfort in the banter she was so used to having with her old partner. "You've got the whole Miss Congeniality thing going on. One question." He said.

"What?" She asked dreading what it might be.

"When you're wearing those skimpy little outfits at the club, where do you hide your gun?"


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hey folks, sorry this was a while coming, this chapter gave me a little trouble! Also i was a rather big idiot today! i sprayed myself in the face with perfume and my right eye went all blury for a while so it made writting quite hard!**

**So again, just to remind you, there is a flash back at the end of the chapter! flash backs are written in _ITALICS!_ Please do leave a review! it only takes a sec!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"These," Special Agent Owen Addison pointed to one of the various piles of manila files stacked on the table of the conference room. "Are transcripts of any conversations Hannah has had with the dancers. These," He pointed to a second pile. "Are from conversations between Hannah and James and any of the managerial staff. And these," He indicated the last pile. "Are conversations we've flagged."

"Well, that seems like a good place to start." McGee said, he pulled out a chair and settled himself into it, Owen doing the same to his right. "So, uh, what's Special Agent Blake like to work with?" Tim inquired as he reached for a file from the top of the pile and pulled it towards him.

"Hannah?" Owen asked as he opened his own file pulling out a few sheets of paper. "She's the best agent I've ever worked under."

"How long have you been on her team?"

"Coming up two years now. I was agent afloat on the USS Ronald Regan for fourteen months before for I transferred." Tim's slight wince at the name of the vessel went unnoticed by Owen. Tim couldn't help but recall the day their team had been pulled apart and Tony had been reassigned to the Regan, perhaps replacing Owen. "I was in criminal intelligence before my stint afloat and I wanted to do something more active, so I applied for a field agent position and I got assigned to Hannah."

"Has she ever mentioned working here? Working with Gibbs and Tony?"

"No, first I knew was last night after she spotted your agent in the club." There was silence for a few moments while they both leafed through various pages of the files laid out before them. Finally Owen broke the silence. "Is it just me or…was there a lot of unspoken tension in the air?"

"It's not just you." Tim sighed.

* * *

"MY GOD, WHAT IS THAT NOISE?" Ziva and Special Agent James Kendry stepped out of the elevator and were met with a wall of sound.

"I BELIEVE THAT IS FLESH EATING FOUNTAIN." Ziva informed him after listening for a few seconds.

"WHAT?" James shouted over the din, his hands over his ears. Ziva simply pointed in the direction of the door to Abby's lab. The sight that greeted them made James freeze in his tracks. In the middle of the room stood a tall woman, her height greatened by the size of the black, patent platform boots she wore over white knee socks. She was, what James could only describe as 'bobbing' to the beat of the loudest music he had ever heard. He watched as she twirled around a few times, the pleats of her short skirt flying dangerously high. The woman stopped when she spotted the visitors to her lab.

"ZIVA!" The woman yelled over the noise. "I FINALLY GOT THAT NEW ALBUM I'VE BEEN WAITING LIKE _WEEKS_ FOR!"

"IT IS GREAT, ABBY. DO YOU THINK YOU COULD TURN IT…down?" Before Ziva could finish her sentence the woman had picked up a remote and pointed it at the stereo in the corner and the noise softened greatly. "Thank you."

James eyed the women up and down. Her jet black hair was pulled back into two high pigtails, each of which were platted, red bows holding the ends together. She wore a black strappy top that fastened at the back with three lengths of black ribbon that were tied in simple bows. The design of the shirt left much of the wearers back on display. James' eyes were drawn to the multitude of artwork the women held on the skin of her back, arms and neck.

"Abby, this is Special Agent James Kendry. He is a member of Hannah's team." Ziva introduced the eccentric woman to James. He held out his hand which she brushed aside as she stepped forward and swept him into a hug. "This is Abby Sciuto." Ziva told James as Abby released him and took a step back. "She is our forensic specialist."

"Hi!" Abby said excitedly.

"Hi." James said, slightly stunned. "Do you always hug strangers?"

"I'm a hugger." Abby admitted, shrugging her shoulders. James gave a nervous smile. "So what can I do for you?"

"Oh…uh, I have these." James fished into his pocket and pulled out the flash drives he had shown Gibbs a few minutes before. "Recordings of every conversation we've had at the club since we've been undercover."

"Cool…uh…what do you want me to do with them?" Abby asked.

"Well, Special Agent Gibbs said something about voice analysis but we already know who the people on the tapes are, I have a feeling he just wanted us out of the room." James said.

"Yes!" Ziva exclaimed. "I thought exactly the same."

"Hannah and Tony fighting again?" Abby asked sadly.

"Fighting?" James asked confused. "Does she know Special Agent DiNozzo?" Abby remained silent but shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"They used to work together." Ziva answered for her.

"She didn't seem a bit distracted on the ride over." James mused.

"How long have you worked with Special Agent Blake?" Ziva enquired.

"A little over six years."

"She has never once mentioned Tony?" Ziva flicked her eyes to Abby so as to see any potential reaction.

"No. She doesn't really talk much about herself and where she worked before. Owen and I have asked a couple of times but she always just says 'what's past is past'." He told them, pausing for a few moments. "Did her and Tony…did they have a thing?" He asked Ziva.

"I do not know. You would have to ask Abby." Ziva told him, her eyes still fixed on the Goth. "She used to work with them."

Abby tried to stare them out but her resolve broke quickly. "I told you, Ziva, I can't tell you."

"Wait." James blurted out, looking at Abby closely. "Did they sleep together?"

* * *

"This is the main of the backstage area." Hannah pointed to a large space on the floor plan she had rolled out onto Tony's desk. "This is the dressing room, there are a few small rooms for the girls to change in but most of them just do it in the open."

"What about you?" Tony asked teasingly.

"This corridor," Hannah continued, ignoring Tony's attempt to rile her. "Leads to Greaves' office. There's four parts to his domain." She traced her index finger around the lines of the rooms. "This is his main office where he does most of his business, this is where he entertains his élite clients, and this is some sort of store room."

"What's in there?" Tony asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Hannah said. "We haven't been able to get back there much. James is the only one who's made it to these rooms, taking orders from the bar. We don't know what's in this room either." She pointed to a last section attached to the office.

"We need to get some eyes in there." Tony surmised.

"We've tried, believe me." Hannah attested. "We had a really close call in the first few weeks. James and I had to…" She stopped short of finishing her sentence and looked up to meet Tony's eyes. "Improvise."

Tony noticed the flush rise in her cheeks. "Improvise how?"

"Oh, it's a great story." Both Hannah and Tony started and turned to see James, Ziva and Abby heading back into the squad room.

"What is?" Hannah's head snapped in the opposite direction and she saw Tim and Owen entering the bullpen from the opposite side. She suddenly felt surrounded.

"When Hannah and I got caught in Greaves' office." James reminded Owen.

He nodded in remembrance. "Oh yeah, that was some quick thinking on Hannah's part. I wouldn't have reacted as quickly." Owen admitted.

"What happened?" Abby asked excitedly.

"We were trying to get a camera and mic hidden in Greaves' office and we almost had the job done when we heard voices outside the door. As the handle turned Hannah grabbed me by the front of my shirt, backed up against the wall, pulling me with her and then-"

"Special Agent Kendry." Hannah snapped, loudly. "That's enough." James held up his hands in surrender and gave an apologetic smile. Hannah could feel her cheeks getting warm and knew they must be turning pink. There was no need for further explanation. Each person standing there could take a guess as to how the story ended.

When Hannah had seen the door handle turning she did the one and only thing that came to mind. She had pulled James flush against her, pressing her to the wall, and pulled his head down towards her own, kissing him. By the time Greaves and Wilson had stepped through the door, James was returning the kiss with great passion.

"Ahem." Greaves gave a cough, and when the pair pulled apart he gave them a quizzical look, waiting for an explanation. "Well?" He prompted when he was offered none.

"Oh, Mr. Greaves, I'm so sorry." Hannah said with her undercover voice. It was a half octave higher than her own. She had decided that she would play her undercover character a little 'blonde' and rose her voice to match.

Greaves eyed them both for a minute before he carried on past them and seated himself behind his desk. "Mr…?"

"Kennett, Jim Kennett." James said, giving Greaves his undercover name.

"Mr Kennett. I don't like my staff distracting the girls." Greaves said dryly.

"I'm very sorry, Mr Greaves, Sir. I assure you it won't happen again."

"Go." Greaves ordered. Hannah and James turned to leave when the man called out. "Wait. You stay."

He said pointing at Hannah. She and James shared a look, to keep their cover she could not refuse. James nodded at her, understanding, and walked out through the door. Hannah watched him walk down the corridor until he disappeared from view as Wilson shut the door. "Come, sit." Hannah slowly walked forward and lowered herself into one of the chairs in front Greaves desk. She suddenly felt a little unease at being in the room alone with the two men in the very minimal costume she was wearing. Wilson positioned himself just behind her left shoulder. She could feel him watching her closely. "How long have you been working here?" Greaves asked her as he took a cigar from an ornate wooden box on his desk.

"Three weeks, Sir." She answered, wide eyed.

"And do you like it here?" He clipped off one end of the cigar then clamped it between his teeth.

"Yes, Sir, I do. Everyone is so friendly, the girls are lovely, and I'm making some real firm friends. And the other staff, their real friendly too, especially Mr….." She broke off and looked down at her hands clasped in her lap, faking coyness.

Greaves lit his cigar and took a few long puffs. "What is your name?"

"Katherine Jones, but all my friends call me Kitty." She added with a sweet smile.

"Kitty." He said returning her smile. "You are a very beautiful girl." Hannah gave a small giggle. "I imagine the clients out there must show you great attention."

"I do get lots of tips."

Greaves gave a short chuckle. "Keep your attention focused on the clients and not on the bar staff." He told her. "I think you will become very popular here." He gave her a wink then nodded at Wilson who put his hand on Hannah's shoulder. Shuddering slightly under the touch she turned to look at him. He held out his opposite hand in the direction of the office door. She stood and he led her to it, his hand on the small of her back touching the bare skin that her costume didn't cover. When the door closed behind her she let out the deep breath she wasn't award she had been holding. That had been close, too close. Now she had to straighten things out with James. She knew that he had feelings for her, he had told her a few times on various nights out with the team. She would have to explain to him that it hadn't meant anything; it had been simply to save their skins. In hindsight it wasn't the best of ideas but at the time it was all that came to her mind.

"Tell me you all doin' nothing for a reason." None of them had noticed Gibbs' reappearance. He stood on the half landing on the staircase to MTAC and the director's office, leaning on the railings, peering down at them. He hot footed it down the last few steps and rounded the partition into the bullpen. "You figured out a cover for DiNozzo yet?"

"Uh, not yet, Boss." Tony sputtered. "We've been going over the floor plans of the club."

"We need to get some eyes and ears in Greaves' office, but it's so closely guarded." Hannah added.

"I thought I could pose as maintenance staff, say something needs fixing, get in that way." Tony suggested.

"Won't work, Greaves hires his own work crew. They're all ex-cons or buddies." James interjected.

"What about as a client?" Owen offered. "He could say he's looking for a new supplier?"

"For the drugs or for the girls? Tim asked.

"Both. It would certainly give him a reason for constant presence at the club." Owen suggested.

"I don't think so, most of the clients just do their business then leave." Hannah argued.

"What about a boyfriend?" Hannah and Tony looked at Abby, looks of pure horror on their faces at her suggestion. "Tony could play the abusive boyfriend who goes into business with Greaves, forces Hannah into prostitution and gets a cut of the profits."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Abbs." Hannah said flustered.

"Sounds good to me." Gibbs piped.

"What?" Tony asked, disbelieving. "Boss, come on, you remember what happened the last time Hannah and I had to pretend…" He trailed off, realizing he had said more than he should.

"What happ-" Ziva started to ask until Abby cut her off.

"Think about it, it gets Tony into a meet with Greaves, give you a chance to bug his office and he'll incriminate himself. If Tony can successfully get a business deal going then you'll have all the evidence you'll need." Abby looked to Gibbs for his approval which he gave her with a nod of his head.

"It would all just be circumstantial; we'd have to see money and product changing hands." James affirmed.

"By product you mean me?" Hannah confirmed. "I don't know, Gibbs. This is pretty risky."

"That's why you'd have DiNozzo on your six." Gibbs told her.

"Ok, the last time you said that I ended up getting shot!" She exclaimed.

"Hey!" Tony began. "That was an accident, I apologized."

"You shot her?" Ziva asked in disbelief.

"It was a rookie mistake." Tony grumbled.

"Rookie mistake?" Tim asked. "You were Baltimore PD before NCIS."

"Just drop it, McGoo!" Tony said warningly.

"I must hear that story." Ziva smiled at Abby.

"I think the trick is to make this believable." Owen said. "He's not going to just go into business with Agent DiNozzo straight away; it's probably going to take a few weeks. He'll run background checks on him, have him followed, look at his bank accounts." He listed.

"Well, Tony already has a pretty extensive undercover file so shouldn't be a problem." McGee said and he tapped a command into his computer. An ID card popped up on the plasma screen and they all turned to look at it.

"Professor DiNardo?" Hannah tried to suppress her laugh.

"We still have his mug shot from the various times he's been undercover as a criminal, so all we need to do is add a couple of charges to his rap sheet, change his profession and he's ready to go." McGee said as he pulled up Tony's mug shot.

"Nice shot." James commented.

"Thanks." Tony said looking at the picture proudly. "My Clint Eastwood impression." He curled his lip upwards slightly imitating the actor.

"Are you feeling luck, punk?" James said, his face screwed up in his own attempt of imitation.

"Are you done, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked dryly.

"Sorry, Boss." Tony said, clearing his throat.

"I don't like this, Gibbs." Hannah said quietly, taking a step closer to her former boss. "This was my operation!"

"You need help." He told her bluntly. "There's not enough of you."

"We've been doing just fine for the last four months." She defended.

"Yeah? Then why haven't you made any arrests."

Hannah had no answer. Deep down she knew he was right, really they had gotten nowhere. With a team of only three it had been hard work. "Ok." She sighed. "But they follow my lead. I was there first."

"Deal."

"_Undercover?" Tony asked excitedly as he looked up from the cover of the file Gibbs had just dropped on his desk as he strode past._

"_Better start getting into character." Gibbs suggested._

"_Sweet. Thanks, Boss!" Hannah called out from across the bullpen. She had already opened her own file and was reading its contents. "Do I get a hot date?" _

_Puzzled, Tony pulled out his knife and flicked it open. He slid the blade under the tabs holding the folder sealed and sliced them open. He opened it and glanced at the first page. 'Washington Navy Ball'. "We're going to the ball, Boss?" He asked. "I guess I'm your hot date, huh?" He smiled winningly at Hannah. "I'll have to dig out my tux." He said out loud to himself as he skimmed down the rest of the page._

"_Nope." Gibbs said simply without expanding._

"_Uh…Tony? Page three." Hannah said softly. Tony quickly flicked to the page and read down until he found their assignments. "Sorry." Hannah offered when she saw Tony's eyebrows raise indignantly. _

"_I'm a waiter?" He spluttered. _

"_We need eyes in the kitchen, DiNozzo. Abby's got your uniform downstairs. She'll fit you for eyes and ears." Tony slumped back in his chair and glared at the paper in his hands._

"_Do I get to go shopping for a ball gown? Do I uh…get the NCIS credit card?" She asked hopefully. Smiling Gibbs pulled out the piece of plastic and held it out towards Hannah. "Yes!" She exclaimed as she darted off her chair and over to Gibbs' desk to retrieve it. _

"_Director Morrow wants it back by the end of the day." Gibbs warned. "And try and stay within the budget this time!"_

"_Absolutely." Hannah grinned. "Permission to take my lunch break early?" Gibbs rolled his eyes before nodding his head in the direction of the elevator. She grabbed her coat and bag from behind her desk. _

_"By the way," She said as she headed out of the partition. "Who is my hot date?" _

"_Some old marine." Gibbs smiled._

"_I love a man in uniform." She said returning the smile as she pulled out her cell phone and punched in a number. "Hey, Abby, you wanna come shopping with me? Lunch is on NCIS!"_

"_I'm a waiter, Boss?" Tony said with a slight whine to his voice._

"_You gotta start somewhere, DiNozzo."_


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** **Hi folks! I'm sorry it's taken so long for this chapter to be uploaded, last week was down and it wouldn't let me upload and then this week i've been really ill with strep throat and to top it all off my laptop has died and had to be completly stripped of everything and reloaded, so i'm borrowing a friends computer to get you this!**

**also wasn't alerting me to reviews so i apologise if i havn't replied to your review yet! i do reply to each and every one**

**So here's the next chapter for you! just a reminder, there are 2 flashbacks in this chapter, both are written in _ITALICS!_**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"_I'm sorry, Lance Corporal. I know this must be disappointing." The doctor perched on the foot of her bed and gave his most sympathetic smile._

"_So that's it? It's over?" Hannah asked in disbelief. "There's nothing you can do?"_

"_Like I said, your only option is surgery, but even then there's no guarantee that it won't happen again." Hannah looked down at her left arm encased in the sling holding the limb snug to her chest. "With or without the surgery I'm afraid your days as an active marine are over."_

"_But what about physiotherapy?" She argued. "You know, strengthen the muscles and-"_

"_It's not a question of strengthening the muscles, Lance Corporal." The doctor interrupted. "Every dislocation you've had has put so much strain on them that they just don't sit right anymore. Strengthening them will not help; they're in the wrong position now." Hannah opened her mouth to argue the point further but he held up his hand to stop her. "Yes, the surgery can correct that but not entirely. The strain from each dislocation has worn the muscles down; there might not be much to work with."_

_Hannah slumped back into the pillows behind her. This was now her fourth stay in the bases hospital wing in just five months. It hadn't taken much to dislodge the joint this time, she had simply rolled over in her sleep and been woken by the all too familiar blinding pain in her left shoulder._

"_So that's it?" She repeated softly, she could feel the tears welling in her eyes and did her upmost to keep them from falling._

_She was only three years into her minimum service. The thought of being disqualified from the marines for medical restrictions was tearing at her insides. That one moment five months ago had ended her military career. What had been a simple training exercise had gone horribly wrong. Their mandatory PT session that day had been to tackle the assault course, a course she and her fellow platoon members had completed many times before. That day however at the half way point of the course, a ten foot brick wall scaled by thick ropes and descended the same way the opposite side, as Hannah pushed off from the wall for her decent her left arm became tangled in the rope. The force of her body falling on the tangled limb ripped the bone from its socket. Several of her platoon members had rushed to her aid, supporting her body, keeping the weight off of her injured arm whilst others gently untangled the rope._

_A few days in the hospital wing followed by four weeks medical leave left Hannah itching to get back to active duty. In her eagerness to re-join her platoon she had rushed through her physiotherapy, failing to give the shoulder the care it needed. Three weeks back into active duty, a gentle sparring session with a fellow marine in the ring caused the joint to pop out of place once more._

_After the third dislocation Hannah did things properly. This time she followed her physiotherapy routine to a 'T', made sure not to rush the recovery. She knew that the joint were to dislocate again her career as an active marine would be over. The marine medical guidelines stated that any current joint dislocation if unreduced, or history of recurrent dislocations of any major joint such as a shoulder, hip, elbow, knee or ankle, or recurrent instability of any major joint would be grounds for disqualification from active duty._

_The simple act of rolling over in her sleep had been enough to force the joint out once again and Hannah knew this spelt the end of the service in the Corps. She had hoped for some small miracle, now she knew none would come._

"_You know the rules, Staff Sargent." He placed a comforting hand on her good shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry, Hannah."_

Hannah rubbed her left shoulder absentmindedly as she glanced over at McGee and Owen talking surveillance and technical support, she overheard snippets of the conversation between James and Tony, but the main of her focus was on Gibbs.

He was concentrating on his computer, his reading glasses having made a rare appearance were perched on the end of his nose, his fingers occupied by the slow one fingered typing that she remembered from her time under his command. She was amused to see he was still something of a technophobe.

"Hannah!" Her musing of Gibbs was interrupted by the cheery calling of her name. She rose from her chair and was swept into a warm and heartfelt embrace by Donald Mallard. "My dear girl, it's so wonderful to see you."

"You too, Doctor." Ducky released her from the hug but kept his hands on her upper arms as though afraid she would leave again.

"I heard of your surprise reappearance. I thought you would have paid me a visit." He said with a hint of disappointment.

"It wasn't exactly planned, Ducky." She told him guiltily.

"Hmmm." He murmured in assent. "No matter, you're here now." He gave her arms an affectionate squeeze. "You must come down for a cup of tea and a chat." He added in a whisper.

"It's a date." She grinned.

"You got anything on those victims, Duck?" Gibbs called over to the ME. Ducky dropped his hands from Hannah's arms and turned to the silver haired agent.

"Nothing more than we already knew, Jethro. Cause of death was the same for each victim, repeated blows to the head; most guess would be with a baseball bat of some sort judging by the wooden splinters found on each victim." Ducky surmised. "Also, each of them had a substantial amount of cocaine running through their systems. I'm afraid that is as much as the poor souls have deemed fit to tell me, as for the why that is for you to find out."

Gibbs rolled his eyes at him before he turned to McGee. "You got his cover set?"

"All done, Boss." McGee nodded. "New ID cards will be here in about an hour."

"You two got you're story straight?" He asked flicking his glance between Hannah and Tony.

"It's pretty solid, Boss." Tony answered him when Hannah remained silent. "It should stick."

"Hannah?" Gibbs looked at her over the rim of his glasses.

"Yeah, should be fine." She said begrudgingly. Gibbs studied her for a moment. He noticed her hand rubbing idly at the shoulder that had always given her so much trouble.

"Get it set up." He ordered. Each member of Gibbs team stood and retrieved their weapons, badges and backpacks from their desks and headed for the elevator with Hannah and her team following behind. "Hannah?" She turned at the soft calling of her name. He beckoned her over to him with a twitch of his index finger.

"Uh…Owen, James, you go on ahead and help them set up." She told her agents. "I'll see you at the club later." She edged slowly back towards Gibbs' desk as the collective piled into the elevator. She resumed the rubbing of her shoulder without conscious thought.

"Shoulder okay?" He asked. At her confused expression he pointed towards her fingers working at the muscles.

"Oh…uh, yeah, force of habit." She said dropping her hand to rest on her hip.

"When did you last dislocate it?"

"About eighteen months ago, means I'm probably due for one soon." She smiled.

"How many does that make now?" He asked returning the smile.

"Fifteen, I think?" She said with a small laugh.

Gibbs' face straightened all of a sudden. His eyes bore deep into her and she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "You going to have a problem working with DiNozzo again?"

_The small screen of her cell phone illuminated the dark room with a harsh light as the phone continued to ring. She reached out blindly and fumbled for it on the night stand. Finally her fingers brushed against its edge and she pulled it into her grasp. She opened one eye and glanced quickly at the screen before closing it again against the intruding light. Flicking it open she held it to her ear. "It's 0300 DiNozzo, this had better be good!"_

"_Gibbs just called, we got a case." Hannah groaned as she threw back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "I'm just leaving now; you want me to pick you up?"_

"_Yeah, that'd be great, my car's still in the shop." She edged her way around the bed in the dark heading for the bathroom. "SHIT!" She bellowed into the receiver when her foot connected with the foot of the bed._

"_You okay?" Tony asked._

"_Yeah, I just stubbed my toe!" She hopped on the spot, rubbing her sore toe with her free hand. "How long have I got?"_

"_I'll be with you in fifteen."_

"_Okay, see you in a bit." She shut the phone and dropped it onto the rumpled sheets as she hobbled into the bathroom and switched on the shower before quickly stripping and stepping in. She was washed, dry and dressed within minutes and had time to spare to toast a few slices of bread. Her phone rang as she buttered them. Snapping it open she held it to her ear with her shoulder as she reached for the jar of peanut butter on the shelf above the counter. "Hey, I'll be two minutes. What do you want on your toast?"_

"_You got any honey?" He asked hopefully._

"_Um…" She scanned the shelf above. "Yup, see you in a sec." She ended the call and shoved the phone into the pocket of her pants and squeezed a generous helping of honey onto two of the slices of toast. She piled the breakfast onto one plate and headed for the front door grabbing her coat and backpack on the way._

_Tony's car was pulled up by the sidewalk right outside the door to the building. She opened the door and slipped in shoving her backpack to the floor between her legs. Tony shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the curb. Hannah held out the plate and he gratefully accepted the top slice._

"_Nice hair." He said with a mouthful. She rolled her eyes at him as she dug in her backpack for a comb which she pulled through her still wet hair with one hand as she helped herself to a piece of her own peanut butter coated toast with the other._

"_Did Gibbs say what the case was?" She asked._

"_Didn't mention specifics just that a couple of bodies are on the way to Ducky." He finished his slice of toast and reached over to Hannah's lap to retrieve a second._

"_Where's the crime scene?" She asked as she too helped herself to a second slice of toast._

"_Piano bar on Eighth Street." Tony said with a yawn._

"_We're going the wrong way." Hannah told him as she looked out of the window noticing their usual route to the navy yard._

"_We're not working the scene; Pacci's team is already there."_

"_So what does Gibbs want with us?"_

"_You're guess is as good as mine." Another yawn escaped him. Hannah slid down further in the seat and rested her heard back against its padding. "What time did you get to sleep?" He asked looking at her across the car._

"_Uh…probably just gone midnight. I didn't leave the office till 2300." She let out a sigh. "God, it feels like I spend my life in that place." Tony let out a soft laugh. "I'm seriously considering replacing my desk with a bed. At least I wouldn't have to commute."_

"_Not much privacy, what if you wanted to bring a date home?" Hannah laughed out loud._

"_Yeah, I don't suppose Gibbs would approve."_

"_Hey, we've got twenty minutes till we get there." He said seeing her eyes droop slightly as he glanced at her briefly before returning his eyes to the road. "Why don't you doze off for a bit? I'll wake you when we get to the navy yard."_

"_Nah, I'm okay, I'll keep you company." She yawned._

"_I gotta feeling it's going to be a long night, you might wanna…" He looked back across the car. Her eyes were closed, her head resting on the door frame. She was fast asleep. He smiled at her affectionately as he reached over and pulled her coat a little closer to her for warmth and gently brushed a stray wet curl from her face, tucking in softly behind her ear._

"You going to have a problem working with DiNozzo again?" Gibbs asked her seriously.

"Honestly, Gibbs?" She asked quietly.

"Honestly." He affirmed.

"_You know what that makes you?" Tony asked his voice full of venom. "Nothing more that cheap whore!" He spat._

Her answer came out in a whisper. "I don't know."

* * *

Wrapping a large white towel around her she padded barefoot to the door. She pressed her eye to the spyglass, peering into the brightly lit hallway. Sliding off the safety chain she opened the door allowing entrance. "You're early." She stated as Tony stepped over the threshold. "I'm not ready."

"Yeah, I can see that." Tony smirked, glancing up and down her current attire. She glared at him. "Nice place." He said with a hint of sarcasm as he looked around the small apartment.

"Yeah, well, it does the job. It's not exactly permanent." She reminded him.

"You mean you're not going to stay once the case is over?" He asked in fake shock.

"Oh God, don't start, DiNozzo, please?" She pleaded tiredly as she turned and headed back towards her bedroom. "Just stay here." She said when she realised he was following her. "I have to get dressed."

"Oh, come on, Han, it's not like I haven't seen-"

"Just stay!" She said firmly. "Go sit down. I won't be long." She disappeared into the bedroom and pushed the door to.

"You never used to be shy." He said to the empty room. He flopped down into the overstuffed armchair in front of the TV, picking up the remote from the coffee table he turned it on and flicked through the channels. "Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about." He said when he came across a repeat of an old Magnum episode. Kicking his feet up he crossed his ankles and rested his heels on the coffee table.

The episode was nearly finished by the time Hannah reappeared from the bedroom. Her tight blond curls were pulled back and pinned atop her head, a few trailed down her and there. Her make-up, he noticed, was extremely heavy, something he hadn't noticed when he had seen her in the club the night before. Her eyes were thickly lined with black eyeliner and mascara and she wore thick false lashes. She already wore the tiny costume she would dance in that night. The exposed skin was bronzed and held a slight shimmer that caught the light. She stopped by the mirror next to the door and applied a coat of deep red lipstick. She caught sight of Tony in the mirror. He was looking her up and down, his eyebrows raised and his mouth slightly agape. In the full light of the apartment she looked extremely overdone, he knew in the club however she blended in perfectly, looking every part the exotic dancer.

"Close your mouth, DiNozzo, you'll catch flies!" She said as she looped a pair of sparking earrings through the piercings in her lobes. He jumped up from the chair; the remote control fell from his lap and landed on the floor with a clatter. Her miniscule attire left little to the imagination. A black skirt sat low on her hips, its hem stopping just shy of revealing her buttocks. It was teamed with an equally small black bra what was adorned with many sequins and jewels. With her back to him Tony had a clear view of her exposed skin. His eyes raked over the artwork he has seen the night before in the club, now he had a chance to view it in decent lighting.

"You've got some new ink." He stated. She looked at him via the mirror. And watched as his eyes lowered to hover over a spot on her lower back, just below the geometrical flower and just above the waistband of the skirt. A small patch of skin held a slight discolouration. She saw his face fall and knew instantly the cause. "You had it removed." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." She said quietly into the mirror. "I…uh…couldn't look at it…without…thinking about…" She trailed her when his reflected eyes met hers. "You still have yours?"

He held her gaze for a few moments debating whether or not to answer truthfully. Deciding to avoid answering he gave a small cough to clear her throat. "We're going to be late." He said heading for the door. "You remember what you've got to do?" He asked as he turned the handle and pulled it open.

She nodded silently as she pulled on a long, black, thick woollen coat and slipped into a pair of comfy Uggs. As she neared the door she picked up her handbag and a pair of strappy heels then slipped out of the door past Tony and into the hall.

* * *

"Okay, Boss, I've got the feed patching through to Abby, we're just waiting on Tony and Hannah now." Owen and Tim were stationed in the back of a dark blue unmarked van in the parking lot opposite the club. The pair were both hooked up to the comms system and sat in front of an array of monitors and screens.

"Let me know when they arrive." Gibbs spoke into his mic. He sunk back into the driver's seat of the Dodge Charger. He and Ziva were hidden from view around the corner from the club. From their position they had a clear view of the back of the club which held the stage door. He could feel Ziva's eyes boring into him. "S'there something you wanna ask me, David?"

"Yes." Ziva affirmed. "What happened between Tony and Special Agent Blake?" She asked bluntly. Gibbs looked at her, a smile playing on his face at her bluntness. McGee would never have been so direct. She waited patiently, her eyebrows raised in anticipation of his answer. "Abby will not tell us and Tony, Tony looked as though he was to shoot McGee when he asked."

"Oh, and you think I'm going to tell you?" Gibbs asked amusedly.

"I am concerned, Gibbs," Her voice quietened. "That it may affect the case, what they are doing is very dangerous. They cannot allow themselves to be distracted."

"Agent Gibbs?" Owen's voice came through their earwigs. "I'm picking up signals from Hannah's mic; they'll pass by you any second." Sure enough Gibbs and Ziva could now hear snippets of conversation between Tony and Hannah.

"You…...I don't…just….kept it."

"Becau….it men…is all."

Looking in his rear-view mirror he saw Tony's car pull up a few feet back from where he himself had parked. Hannah and Tony climbed out of the car and headed towards them deeply involved in, by the tone of their voices, an argument.

"I don't have to explain it to you." Tony snapped. "You wanted to get rid of it and you did. You made your decision."

Ziva turned to Gibbs. "What did she get rid of?" She asked in a whisper. Gibbs ignored her and continued to watch his two agents.

"I just don't understand why you're so upset about it." Hannah told him.

"Just drop it." Tony warned. They walked in silence for a few second before Tony turned his head to her with a smirk on his face. "So, you and Special Agent Kendry?"

"Oh, God, Tony."

"So how many does that make now?" He asked as they passed Gibbs' car.

"How many what?" She asked annoyed.

"Male co-worker's you've made-out with? Let me see, there's Pacci, Special Agent Stanley, me, Gibbs-" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ziva's head snap to face him.

"TONY!" Hannah bellowed, cutting him off. She stopped in her tracks and turned to him, her face full of thunder. He said nothing but smirked at her, satisfied to have gotten a rise out of her. It was then that she realised where they were standing. They were three feet from the hood of Gibbs' car. She could clearly see him and Ziva in the front seat. Gibbs' eyes were shooting daggers at Tony and Ziva was looking between them all, shock covering her face. Hannah felt her face burn with embarrassment when she realised that, that thanks to her mic, they and Tim and Owen would have heard every word.

She gave Tony a final disappointed look before she turned and hurried to the stage door, slipping through it and disappearing from view. Tony, smirk still spread across his face, looked to his right and he too noticed his boss parked just feet from him. The look of outrage on Gibbs' face was enough to make his grin disappear in a heartbeat. Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans he slowly made his way around to the front of the club and out of Gibbs and Ziva's sight.

They sat in silence for a few moments when a small cough came through their earpieces. "Ahem, um…Boss?" McGee's voice was a tad hesitant.

"What?" He barked.

"Uh…Hannah and Tony are here." His voice wobbled an ounce.

"Ya think, McGee?"


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:** **Hello folks, here's your next chapter! Its's uber long for you! I got this massive plot bunny in my head and just had to write it down! The chapter is pretty much all flashback (written in _ITALICS!_) It's lovely to have my laptop back, sadly in the process of it being fixed they whiped my hardrive and I lost my fanfiction folder with all my charater notes and things in! Buggers! Never mind! Most of it's in my head anyway!**

**If you go to this page www(dot)flickr(dot)com(slash)photos(slash)hollyrixon(slash)5584366002 you will be able to see a picture of the evening gown I put Hannah in. Just copy and paste into your browser and put a . where it says (dot) and a / where it says (slash)! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 9**

"Kitty?" You okay? You look a little flustered." Hannah dropped her handbag onto her dressing table and pulled off her coat.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just running a little late." She sat down in front of her mirror after draping her coat over the back of the chair. She opened her handbag and pulled out a small envelope and turned to the woman at the station next to her. "This is for you, Jaya. It's from Abby."

Jaya looked at her confused. "How do you know Ab-"

"She says don't open it till you get home." Hannah interrupted looking at her pointedly. Jaya nodded and slipped the letter into her own bag. Hannah faced the mirror and applied a few touch ups to her hair and make-up before she stood and headed to the door that led to the main floor of the club.

"Ms. Jones." She had been reaching for the handle when her undercover name was called.

"Mr. Wilson." She said turning to him.

"You're late, Ms. Jones." Joseph Wilson said, his face set.

"I know, I'm sorry, Mr. Wilson. I...um...ran into a, uh...a little trouble." She fixed her eyes on a button of his shirt.

"Is everything alright?" His voice completely contradicted the question, there was not a hint of concern on his words.

"I think so, just an ex-boyfriend, won't take no for an answer."

"Just make sure it doesn't distract you from your work." He stipulated.

"Oh no, sir, I won't." He brought his right hand up to her face and brushed a finger under her chin. She couldn't help but shiver at the touch.

She watched him walk away. When he was safely out of earshot she whispered to herself 'stage one complete' knowing her mic would pick up her words and relay them back to Gibbs and the team. She pulled open the heavy door and walked out onto the club floor.

It was still pretty quiet. A few tables here and there held a single customer while a larger group of men sat around the stage watching two girls work the poles. Knowing DiNozzo would keep himself hidden from view until the right moment she headed over to the bar.

James, in the middle of mixing a cocktail, gave her a quick nod. She slipped gracefully up onto one of the barstools as he poured the drink into a tall glass and added the appropriate garnishing.

"Hey, Kitty." he said cheerfully, handing the patron his drink and making a note on the man's tab. "How was your day?"

"Pretty normal." She crossed her legs causing her skirt to shift an inch higher. The man on the stool next to her took a good look at her long tanned legs. "Hey sugar." She greeted him with a wink.

The silence in the car was becoming almost unbearable. Gibbs could see Ziva looking at him every now and then out of the corner of his eye. He was furious at Tony. He understood that Hannah's reappearance was trying for him, but he knew it was hard for Hannah too. It was clear that the issues between the pair had not dulled over the years apart. But now Tony was being petty. Bringing up the names of the agents Hannah had kissed had been a low blow, they had all been undercover.

_Gibbs tossed his bag back behind his desk when he returned to the bullpen. He draped his tux jacket over the back of his chair and placed his newly shined shoes on the desk. Pulling his bowtie from his pocket he slung it around his neck and began his first attempt to tie it. After just seconds he loosened the knot and tried again. A grumbling behind him signaled Tony's reappearance from Abby's lab. He too had changed for the Navy Ball that night. The waiters uniform he wore, now wired for sound and video surveillance by Abby, sat a little too snug on his athletic frame. _

"_They get to eat a three course meal at a swanky five star hotel," He muttered to himself as he pulled at the sleeves of his uniform, trying to inch them further down his arms. "And I get to serve it." _

"_Problem, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as restarted his bowtie for a third time._

"_No problem, Boss." Tony said snapping his head up when he realized Gibbs could hear him. "Uniforms a little tight is all." _

_Gibbs growled as he failed yet again to fasten the bowtie. He didn't wear his tux often enough to master the skill. For most formal occasions he got away with a smart suit, others he simply didn't attend. He pulled the offending item from his neck and set about removing the knot he had created._

"_You need a hand with that, Boss?" Tony asked pointing to the piece of black material. Gibbs held it out to him in surrender. He didn't have time to find Ducky. Tony stepped up to him and took the bowtie, slinging it around Gibbs' neck and tucking it under the collar of his dress shirt. Gibbs was impressed with the precision at which Tony wrapped one end around the other, pulling it through loops effortlessly. _

"_Where'd you learn?" Gibbs asked holding his chin up so Tony had clear access. _

"_My father." Tony answered simply. When he didn't expand further Gibbs didn't push. But he realized that DiNozzo had now been at the agency almost four months, and although he didn't ask each agent for a novel of their life to date he at least always knew a little about each of his agent's history. He knew of Hannah's difficult upbringing. In his own silent way had counseled her on it a few times over a bottle of something in his basement. _

_He had decided to wait a little while longer before probing DiNozzo for his background when the young agent continued. "I remember the day my father taught. I was five, it was my mother's birthday and we had a house full of guests, a very formal event." He said with a slight laugh that lacked all humor. "I had barely learned how to tie my shoelaces. He made me do it over and over again until I got it right. I was two hours late for the party." He pulled the knot tight then stepped back to check it lay straight. Satisfied Tony looked up and met Gibbs' eyes. The slight smile on his face disappeared. Gibbs got the impression Tony has said more than he meant to. He retreated back around his desk and set about securing his back up weapon to his ankle. _

"_You see Hannah yet?" Gibbs asked changing the subject as he checked his watch. Hannah had disappeared down to the locker room to change over two hours ago. _

"_No, not yet." Tony answered as Gibbs' cell phone rang. The silver haired agent flicked it open and answered the call with his customary 'Gibbs?'_

"_Is she ready? Did you see her? I didn't miss her, did I?" Abby's excited voice was paired with the stomping of her heavy boots as she rounder the corner into the bullpen from the back elevator. _

"_She hasn't been up here yet, Abbs." Tony told her._

"_Okay, thanks." Gibbs said snapping his phone shut and pulling on his tuxedo jacket. "Car's here." He said and he fastened his buttons. "DiNozzo, call Hannah, find out where she is." He ordered as they headed to the elevator, Abby clomping along behind them. Tony pulled out his cell and dialed Hannah's number._

"_Oh my God, wait till you see the dress, Gibbs. It's beautiful. We had so much fun shopping for it, Hannah must have tried on like a hundred dresses." Gibbs smiled as he pushed the button to call the elevator car. "And then we couldn't decide between these two dresses so Hannah was gonna get both, but then she remembered that it was the NCIS credit card." Abby continued to ramble._

"_Hey, Hannah, car's here, where are you?" Tony said into the cell phone as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open._

"_I'm here." Tony's mouth dropped open and Abby let out a high pitched squeal. Hannah snapped her phone shut and slipped it back into her clutch bag. "What do you think?" She asked holding her arms out and turning on the spot. The soft golden shine of the gown complimented her skin tone perfectly. As she turned the jewels on the straps sparkled as they caught the light. Tony's eyes widened as she reached the halfway point in the turn, her back facing them. The back of the dress was cut low revealing a good portion of her back, a slight gathering of the material at the base of her spine was a graceful addition to the curve of her derrière, then fell gently to the floor and formed a short train. She completed the turn and reached down to untangle her feet from the hem of the dress. "I'm a bit worried I'm gonna trip over this thing." She laughed as she straightened the train and threw it out behind her. "So…?" This time her question was directed at Gibbs._

"_You'll do." He said with a smile as he joined her in the elevator. "You comin', DiNozzo?" Tony didn't move, his eyes on Hannah, his mouth hanging open. "DiNozzo." Gibbs called again. Tony started slightly and stepped into the lift._

"_Sorry, Boss." He said sheepishly._

"_Have fun you guys." Abby chirped waving at them as the elevator doors slid close._

"_Hold this a sec." Hannah thrust the small black clutch bag into Tony's hands. "I've got to tighten my shoe." She kicked up her leg and rested her foot on the handrail. She pulled at the skirt of her gown pulling it up her leg and hooking it over her knee out of her way. Tony cocked his head to one side slightly and watched her reach down to the strap of her heel and buckle it one notch tighter. Gibbs saw his eyes wondering higher up her leg. Lifting his arm he connected his hand with the back of Tony's head._

"_Close your mouth, DiNozzo."_

"_Too much for you, Tony?" Hannah smirked at him as she dropped her leg and rearranged her gown._

"_I'm just wondering, I'm mean your purse is too small…where's your gun?"_

"_Can I slap him this time, Gibbs?" Hannah asked glaring at Tony._

"_Tempting." Gibbs smiled._

_The elevator doors opened again and they stepped into the lobby and headed through security past the guards just starting the night shift. Tony noticed all their eyes on Hannah as she and Gibbs walked ahead out of the main doors. Walking behind them he had a chance to admire her attire for the evening. The gown hugged her body in all the right places. Her blond curls were pinned in a low bun at the nape of her neck which left the smooth skin of her back on display._

"_Nice." Tony said as they walked out into the cool evening breeze. Outside the main doors to the building sat a black limousine. The chauffeur opened the rear door and held out a hand for Hannah to take. She accepted it, and using her other hand to hold up the skirt of her gown, slid in through the open door. Tony stepped forward about to follow Hannah into the car._

"_Sorry, DiNozzo." Gibbs said stepping around him. "Not your ride." _

"_See ya at the party, Probie." Hannah called from inside the limo as Gibbs slid in alongside her. They heard Tony grumble as he turned to head over to the dodge charger parked behind the limousine. The chauffeur shut the door then climbed into the driver's seat and pulled the vehicle away from the curb. "Poor Probie." Hannah laughed as she pulled a small mirror and a tube of lipstick from her clutch._

"_How much do you know about DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked her quietly. _

"_What do you mean?"_

"_How much do you know about him?"_

"_Um, he's bounced around from department to department, Peoria, Philadelphia, Baltimore. He's got several commendations-"_

"_No, how much do you know about __**him**__?" Gibbs interrupted._

"_What, his personal life?" Gibbs nodded. "Not much. I haven't really asked him about it. I know he's an only child, but that's about it. Why?"_

"_Just something he said earlier, made me wonder."_

"_You want me to fish for some info." She asked looking at him curiously. _

_Gibbs murmured in assent. "Just don't make it too obvious you're fishing."_

_By the time Hannah had applied a fresh coat of lipstick and fiddled with a few strands of hair, the short drive to the St. Regis hotel was over. The chauffeur opened the door and Gibbs slid out before turning and offering a hand to Hannah. She too stepped out and took Gibbs' arm and the pair walked up the red carpeted steps into the hotel._

_They headed into the ballroom. It was beautifully decorated. Twinkling lights were strung from the pillars; large colourful flower arrangements adorned every table. Guests moved around the room, the men in either dress whites or a tux, the ladies in an assortment of beautiful gowns. Gibbs steered Hannah through the room by placing his hand on the small of her back. When they reached their table he pulled out her chair for her._

"_Always the gentleman." Hannah grinned._

_The dinner passed by smoothly. Gibbs' eyes barely left the object of their protection. The Secretary of the Navy sat at the head table, slightly raised from the ground, with the other VIP officers and politicians in attendance. Hannah swept her eyes around the room every few minutes. They had memorized the face of their suspect, they were unsure however when he was going to make his move. With Tony posing as a waiter they at least had a set of eyes behind the scenes and two additional agents posing as guests at another table gave them a little more coverage. Once the speeches were over the band started to play and the dance floor began to fill. Hannah and Gibbs vacated their seats and made their way around the room hovering a few feet behind the SecNav at all times. _

_After thirty minutes of mingling the SecNav took his wife to the dance floor just as the band struck up a slow number. "Shall we?" Gibbs raised his eyebrows at her as he held out his hand._

"_I thought you'd never ask." Gibbs led Hannah to the dance floor and pulled her in close to him slipping one arm around his waist, she shivered a bit at the feel of his hand on the bare skin of her back, and grasping her hand in the other. As they slowly rotated they alternated between keeping watch on the SecNav and scanning their eyes around the room. As the band started a second slow number a figure in the shadows at the edge of the room caught Hannah's eye. _

"_Gibbs, your six." She said nodding behind him. He spun her around quickly, looking in the direction she had indicated. He nodded at her when he saw their suspect. _

"_You got your weapons?" _

"_Yeah," Hannah confirmed. "Service and backup." _

"_Remember, we need to catch him in the act, don't move too soon."_

_Gibbs sought out the other two agents on the dance floor and gave them a nod. They moved a little closer to the SecNav to take over protection as Hannah and Gibbs moved off the dance floor and followed the man as he slipped through a door out into a service corridor. A few seconds later Gibbs and Hannah exited through the same door just in time to see the suspect disappearing through a door at the end of the corridor. Looking up and down the corridor they saw many other doors leading off to various storerooms or stairwells_

_Gibbs unfastened his tuxedo jacket and reached to his hip and pulled his sig from the holster attached to his belt. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hannah pulling up the skirt of her gown. He turned as she lifted the skirt up her to her thighs revealing a weapon strapped to both legs. She pulled out her own sig sauer leaving her back up in place before letting her skirt fall back to the floor. When she lifted her head back up she saw Gibbs staring at her, his eyebrows raised and an amused look on his face. _

"_What?"_

"_Was wondering where they were." He told her with a small smirk._

"_Where else was I gonna put them? I don't exactly have pockets!"_

_He couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him as he headed lightly down the corridor towards the door at the very end. Hannah followed along behind moving with extreme stealth considering her footwear. The door they were headed to held a small glass porthole through which they could see their suspect moving around. They reached the door and positioned themselves either side of the frame. Gibbs held out a finger indicating to her to keep her position before he moved slightly to peer through the window. The room held shelves of linins and several laundry carts. He watched as the suspect lifted a few sheets from one of the carts and pulled out a machine gun and locked on a loaded magazine. He placed the gun back into the laundry cart and covered it with the sheets._

_Gibbs moved away from the portal when he saw the suspect start backing towards the door pulling the cart with him. Looking back down the corridor for cover, Gibbs darted to a few of the other doors leading off the corridor. He rattled the handles but none of them yielded. When he looked back and saw the door beginning to open and the suspect backing out he did the first thing that came to mind. Placing one hand on Hannah's stomach he pushed her gently back against the wall behind her and stepped in close slipping his gun hand behind her back concealing his weapon._

"_Trust me." He whispered in her ear, pressing his cheek against hers. He removed his hand from her stomach and lifted it to her chin, turning her head to one side. She couldn't help the quick intake of breath as his lips brushed softly over her neck. She heard the wheels of the laundry cart squeaking and a thud as the door closed. She slipped her hands under Gibbs' jacket and placed them on his waist, hiding any evidence of her own weapon. She tried desperately to keep her focus as Gibbs trailed feather light kisses down her neck to her shoulder. Laying her head back against the wall behind her she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Gibbs' hand not hiding his gun was resting gently on the shoulder he was appraising with such a soft touch. He worked a finger under the strap of her gown and slipped it off her shoulder ever so slightly before placing a few soft kisses to the newly revealed skin._

_Hannah opened her eyes when she heard the laundry cart moving closer towards them. Over Gibbs' shoulder she saw the suspect give them wary look. She sucked in her lower lip, biting on it seductively, and fixed a look or pure wanting on her face. As he drew level with them she gave him a wink. He stopped the cart and looked them both up and down._

"_You're not supposed to be back here." He said, a nasty smile on his face as he looked at Hannah. "Staff only."_

"_Not doin' any harm." Gibbs told him, lifting his head from Hannah's shoulder. He didn't turn to the man but kept his eyes fixed on Hannah's. "Just havin' a little fun." His gaze was intense. She had experienced the 'Gibbs stare' before but never like this. She could feel her knees weakening a little. Before she could tear her eyes from Gibbs' he had lowered his head and captured her lips with his own. She was truly shocked. The soft, chaste kiss was completely unexpected. She had never fantasized about kissing Gibbs, she and Abby often talked about the other male agents at the navy yard, but if she had been asked to guess what a kiss with Gibbs would have been like, she would have said 'forceful and hard', 'domineering' like his character._

_If her knees had felt weak before it was nothing compared to the jelly like sensation they held now. Gibbs held her firmly against him and he continued the kiss, running his tongue teasingly along her lower lip. He pulled back a millimeter and dotted a few kisses to the corner of her mouth before planting his lips back on hers in a full, more demanding kiss. Subconsciously she could hear the wheels of the cart resume their squeak as the suspect moved off down the corridor, followed by a soft thud of the door closing as he exited back into the ballroom. The kiss however did not end right away, for a few seconds they stayed locked together in the tight embrace until a harsh cough broke the silence. Hannah's eyes shot open and she pulled away from Gibbs using her hands at his hips to push him slightly._

"_Am I interrupting?" Tony's voice was full of mirth and he smirked at the pair, leaning against the frame of the door he had just appeared from. Gibbs turned slowly to face him looking stony. _

"_What are you doing, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked warningly._

"_I was tailing the suspect." He answered simply still smirking at Hannah who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Ducked in here," He gestured his head backwards to indicate the store room he had emerged from. "To avoid been seen." His face faltered when Gibbs took a step closer to him. "And now I'm gonna go tail him again." He hotfooted it down the corridor after the suspect. Hannah felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment as Gibbs turned back to face her. _

"_You might wanna…" He waggled a finger in the direction of her shoulder. Looking down she saw the strap of her gown hanging down her urm causing the neckline to drop dangerously low. Hannah wouldn't have believed it possible to blush anymore. She quickly grasped the strap and pulled it back into place on her shoulder. Gibbs headed off after Tony, turning when he realized Hannah wasn't following. "Well?" _

_Holding their weapons behind their backs they slipped back into the ballroom and joined Tony who was standing against the wall a little way from the door. "By the bar." Tony informed them. They watched as the suspect rolled the laundry cart to stand by one of the tables, he stripped off the tablecloth and tossed it into the cart and headed to the next table._

"_DiNozzo, get on his six." Tony nodded and weaved his way through the guests on the dance floor. "Go introduce yourself to the SecNav." He murmured to Hannah. _

"_On it." _

_Gibbs moved away from the wall and edged a little closer to the center of the room his eyes fixed on their target. As he tossed a third tablecloth into the cart he stooped down and seized the gun from under the pile of linins and pushed his way through the guests._

"_NOW!" Gibbs yelled into his comms. Simultaneously, each agent positioned around the room drew their weapons and centered them on the armed man heading for the SecNav and his wife. Numerous shouts of 'NCIS' and 'FREEZE' were issued from each agent. Cries of shock issued from several guests as they scattered at the sight of the guns around them. The suspect froze momentarily glaring at each weapon trained on him, before he raised the semi-automatic and pointed it straight at his intended target. _

_Hannah and Tony fired their weapons within seconds of each other. As the suspect crumpled to the ground, from Hannah's direct hit to the chest, she felt a burning tug at her right shoulder and stumbled backwards losing her balance. Gibbs raced towards her but his distance to cover was too great. He could only watch as she fell to the floor with a sickening thud. One of the agents rushed forward to secure the suspect and his weapon and ensure the SecNav was not hurt; the other pulled out his cell phone and dialed for an ambulance. Gibbs only had eyes for the slight form a few feet away, a small pool of blood forming on the floor underneath her. He dropped to his knees by her head, ignoring their creaking in protest, and gently lifted Hannah's head and cradled it in his lap. Behind him he could hear the agent rapidly explaining the situation._

"_We have an agent down and in need of immediate medical assistance." He informed the dispatcher. "One gunshot wound to the right shoulder."_

"_Aagghhh!" Hannah gasped in pain as Gibbs shifted her a little higher onto his lap._

"_S'okay." Gibbs whispered to her softly. "S'okay, looks like a through and through." He laid his hand over the wound and pressed down. The action caused Hannah to issue a strangled cry. _

"_What…what a waste…of a good…dress" Hannah joked in between breaths as she looked down at the golden gown now stained with her blood. "I didn't…see him…fire…a round." She said, confused._

"_He didn't." Gibbs said looking up. Tony was slowly approaching them, his gun hand hanging loosely at his side, a mixed look of shock and devastation on his face. _

"_I…" He breathed heavily. "Hannah, I-I-I'm s-so sorry!"_

"_You…shot me?" She asked incredulously taking a few labored breaths. Gibbs noticed a light rasp; he turned to the agent behind him and asked for an ETA on the ambulance._

"_Their three minutes out." The agent told him after checking with the dispatcher._

"_Hannah?" Tony's voice cracked as he looked at the growing pool of blood leaking out between Gibbs' fingers pressing over the bullet hole and spreading over Hannah's shoulder and chest, dripping down to stain Gibbs' pants. "Oh God, I-I don't-"_

"_Tony…shut…up…not…your fault."_

"_Shhhh." Gibbs noticed it was taking more effort for her to talk. "Tony, get me something to put over the wound." He looked the young agent direct in the eyes and used his first name, a rare occurrence. Tony nodded and darted to the laundry cart, grabbed a handful of napkins and raced back to Gibbs' side and handing him the balled up material. Gibbs noticed the shake in his hands. He removed his hand from Hannah's shoulder and pressed the napkins against it instead. Hannah hissed as he applied a firm pressure._

"_Son…of a…" She tried to take a deep breath but stopped when shooting pain radiated from the gunshot wound. She looked up at Gibbs and smiled. Lifting her uninjured arm she wiped her thumb across the corner of Gibbs' mouth. "Lipstick." She grinned up at him._

_"Come on, save your breath." He said returning the wide smile. He looked over his shoulder when he heard a commotion behind him. He saw two EMT's working their way through the crowd. When they reached Hannah's side they ushered Gibbs out of the way. One placed an oxygen mask over her face and set about taking her pulse and blood pressure while the other lifted the material covering the wound to survey the damage. He placed a few extra wads of padding to the napkins then taped them to her skin. Hannah was lifted gently and efficiently onto the gurney and wheeled out of the room, Gibbs and Tony following closely behind._

_Four hours later Gibbs and Tony sat in the waiting room at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Gibbs wore a pair of green hospital scrubs after changing out of his blood stained tux and he was filling out numerous hospital forms. Tony sat next to him, a cup of cold coffee in his hands; he stared unseeing into the distance. "Don't beat yourself up, DiNozzo." Gibbs told him without lifting his eyes from the paperwork in front of him. "We all make mistakes."_

"_What, like shooting your partner?" Tony snorted. "What a mistake." He looked down to the small coffee table in front of them and watched as Gibbs filled in a few more boxes on the last sheet of paper. "How come you're doin' all that?" He asked quietly. "Shouldn't her family be doing it? Have you called them?"_

"_She doesn't have any family." Gibbs returned after looking at Tony for a moment. "None that would care enough to come and visit her in the hospital anyway."_

"_What do you mean?" Tony asked puzzled._

"_You'd have to ask her." Gibbs told him pointedly before turning his attention back to the papers spread over the small table, checking he had filled in all that was required. "Hannah listed me as her emergency contact and next of kin shortly after she started at NCIS." He gathered the papers together and placed them inside the manila folder that had been given to him by one of the nurses. "There's no one else to do the job." He said sadly._

_A knock at the door prevented Tony from asking any other questions. "Special Agent Gibbs?" A young doctor poked his head through the door._

"_Yeah?"_

"_I'm Dr. Anderson; I'm the surgeon that worked on Special Agent Blake." He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him._

"_How is she, Doc?" Gibbs asked as he and Tony stood from their seats._

"_She on her way to recovery, she's doing absolutely fine. It was a simple through and through right under the scapula, no muscle or nerve damage luckily. The bullet nicked the very top of her right lung causing a very small tear." He indicated the location on his own chest. "That's what was making it difficult for her to breathe. We put in a couple of stiches and it should heel up fine in a few weeks."_

"_So…she's okay? No major damage?" Tony asked quickly._

"_No, no major damage. She'll be a little sore for a few weeks and she'll need some physiotherapy for the shoulder, but she should be back to normal in around six to eight weeks." He finished with a comforting smile._

"_Oh, thank God." Tony sank down into the chair behind him and ran his hands over his face._

"_Can we see her?" Gibbs asked._

"_Yeah, sure. She's still pretty out of it from the anesthesia, but she should be a little responsive." Dr. Anderson opened the door and led the way out of the waiting room and down the hallway. As they followed behind Gibbs put a comforting hand on Tony's shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. "She's in here. If you need anything the nurses' station is just down the hall."_

"_Thanks, doc." Gibbs said as the surgeon back out of the room with a courteous nod. The room was dark save for a soft lamp on the table next to the hospital bed. Hannah's eyes were closed, her face looked peaceful. The nasal cannula fitted to her face emitted a soft hiss as it delivered a steady stream of oxygen. Gibbs stepped up to the bed and lent over the rail to place a soft kiss on Hannah's forehead. _

"_Not gonna make out with me again are you, Boss?" Hannah's voice came out in a whisper and her words were slightly slurred. He flickered her eyes open and tried to focus on him._

"_They got you on the good stuff, huh?" Gibbs grinned stroking her hair. _

"_Ohhhhhhhhh yeah!"_

_Gibbs chuckled. "DiNozzo's here." He whispered in her ear. "Go easy on him, he feels pretty bad." He straightened up and turned to Tony who had not moved further into the room but stayed by the door as if scared to get any closer. "I gotta hand this to one of the nurses, I'll be back in a minute." He slipped out of the door but instead of heading off down the hallway he hung out of sight by the door and listened._

"_Hey." Hannah called over to Tony holding out her hand. "Get your butt over here." He tiptoed over to the side of the bed. "Come here." She said wiggling her fingers. He reached out and took her hand in his. She pulled him a little closer and grasped his hand tightly. "You okay?"_

"_You're asking me that?" He laughed nervously. "You're the one that got shot."_

"_You're the one that did the shootin'." She quipped. _

"_Hannah, I'm so, so sorr-"_

"_Rule number six, never apologize – it's a sign of weakness."_

"_Yeah, but-"_

"_I'm not mad at you, DiNozzo." She told him earnestly._

"_I have a feeling you're gonna change your mind when the drugs wear off." He laughed sparking a chuckle in Hannah which she quickly stopped with a short intake of breath when pain shot through her chest._

"_Just promise me you'll spend some time on the shooting range." He grasped her small hand in his a little tighter, covering it with his other hand._

"_I promise."_

"You got a problem, David?" Gibbs asked when he spotted Ziva looking at him again.

"No." She answered simply. "I am just wondering." He shook his head; he knew exactly what she was wondering about. 'Why is every member of my team so damn nosey?' He thought to himself.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Hello folks, here you are, chapter 10! Another super long chapter for you! I couldn't stop once I got going!**

**A quick note, you may have noticed that I have changed my pen name from rixie-rules to CalinaAnneHart, it's still me, no one has stolen the story, i just wanted a new pen name that wasn't my nick name from when i was 13! lol!**

**I now have an author's page on Facebook, please do come and join me there, you'll be able to see pictures related to the story, get sneek peeks of future chapters and much more. The link to my page is on my profile!**

**Just to remind you before you read...flahbacks are written in _ITALICS, _This flash back continues straigt on from the one in chapter 8 where Tony picks Hannah up for work and she falls asleep in his car on the way.**

**The is also a little bit of singing in this chapter (you'll see what i mean when you get there!) any song lyrics will be writen *like this***

**Enjoy, and as alway please leave a quick review!**

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**Previously on Broken Souls:**

_"You got a problem, David?" Gibbs asked when he spotted Ziva looking at him again._

_"No." She answered simply. "I am just wondering." He shook his head; he knew exactly what she was wondering about. 'Why is every member of my team so damn nosey?' He thought to himself._

**Chapter 10**

Tony sat in the darkest corner of the club he could find; from his position, he had a view of the entire club floor. He ordered a drink from the nearest waitress while he waited for Hannah to make her appearance. His eyes widened in surprise and pleasure as the waitress turned and headed over to the bar to fill his order; her dress was entirely see-through, and Tony was given a complete view of the tattoo on her ass. As she returned from the bar with his drink, Hannah emerged from the door that led backstage. He watched her saunter over to the bar and step up onto one of the barstools.

He felt bad about his angry outburst earlier. He knew for sure that Gibbs would call him on it later. As he sipped his drink, he noticed his hand was trembling. "Get a grip, DiNozzo," He reminded himself and gave delivered a head slap that Gibbs would be proud of.

Tony watched as Hannah slipped gracefully from her barstool and pressed herself close against the male customer next to her. Tony glanced at his watch; any minute now Greaves, according to Hannah and James, would make his weekly round of the club floor, greeting and schmoozing his loyal customers and clients. Right on schedule, the door to the dressing rooms opened, and out walked William Greaves flanked by Nick Roberts and Joseph Wilson. As Greaves made his way around a few tables, neither man strayed further than five feet from their boss.

Tony waited a few more minutes before making his move. Finishing the last of his drink, he pushed himself up from the chair and made his way across the club floor. Slipping easily into his undercover persona, he strode up to Hannah who was now whispering into the customer's ear. He reached out, grabbed her arm hard just above the elbow, and yanked her away from the man. She stumbled slightly and fell into him. "I thought I warned you," he growled at her. "You work for me, no one else."

"Hey, look man, just calm down…okay?" James advised from behind the bar.

"You stay out of this!" Tony yelled, his voice loud enough to cause Greaves to look in their direction. "You," he snapped his head back to Hannah, "…are leaving with me right now!" He gave her arm a tug and pulled her away from the bar. He turned towards the exit and found himself face to face with Wilson and Roberts.

"Is there a problem here?" Greaves stepped up alongside Hannah. His voice was perfectly calm as he regarded Tony's vice-like grip on Hannah's upper arm.

"No problem. I'm just taking back what's mine." He pulled at Hannah's arm again. The motion caused Hannah to stumble for a second time.

"Yours?" Greaves asked with a mix of confusion and amusement. "I think you'll find that this young lady works for me." He nodded to Wilson and Roberts who stepped forward in unison, each seizing one of Tony's arms while Roberts prized Tony's fingers from Hannah's.

"Get off me!" Tony yelled as he struggled against the firm grip the two men had on him. "She's _mine!_" he said warningly to Greaves, "She's my best girl." By now many of the guests in the club were all looking over in the group's direction, with great interest.

Greaves considered Tony for a moment. "Take him to my office. This discussion is not for the public," he said quietly to Roberts and Wilson. The men started forward, pulling Tony with them, towards the door that led backstage. Once released from Tony's grip, Hannah backed away and turned to head across the club. "I think not, Ms. Jones," Greaves said sternly and took hold of her wrist. His grip was not as hard as Tony's had been, but it was still firm enough that she could not slip away. "I think you should come too." He held his arm out, his hand palm up, indicating she was to follow his men who were now pushing Tony through the heavy door into the dressing rooms.

She followed them, her head low and her eyes on the floor. She shifted uneasily when Greaves put his hand on her shoulder, trying not to flinch at his touch. As they entered the dressing room and continued through to the hallway to Greaves office, she could hear Tony's grunts and complaints as he tried to free himself from the grip of the men escorting him. Every girl in the dressing room watched as Hannah was led past them to the office by Greaves himself. She could hear their whispers and murmurs. Lifting her head, she caught sight of Jaya's face flooded with concern. Hannah looked her dead in the eye, gave her a comforting smile and a quick nod of her head that went unnoticed by William Greaves. She hoped that she had conveyed to Jaya that everything was okay.

The door to the office stood open; from inside Hannah could hear Tony continuing to argue with Wilson and Roberts. They in turn were speaking harshly to him. She heard several orders of 'sit down' and 'stay where you are'. Hannah froze for a moment at the threshold of the office and took a few deep, calming breaths to ready herself for the next stage of their plan. She wasn't given long to center herself; Greaves gave her a sharp push between her shoulder blades, causing her to stumble into the room and bang into a cabinet just inside the door. Tony's eyes flashed with concern for a split second before fixing his undercover mask back in place.

Greaves maneuvered his bulk around his desk and into the smart, high-backed leather chair and sat down. He waved a hand to his bodyguards, who immediately released Tony's arms and stepped back a few feet behind the agent. Greaves pulled a cigar out of the intricately carved wooden box to his left and snipped off the end. Placing the cigar between his teeth, Greaves calmly said, "Take a seat, Ms. Jones." As Greaves lit his cigar, Hannah timidly sidled to the chair next to Tony and slowly sat down. Maintaining her cover, she looked cautiously at Tony, adopting a posture of a woman fearfully waiting for the next sharp blow from an angry, domineering ex.

The room was silent while Greaves calmly puffed his cigar and studied Tony and Hannah. Hannah glanced at Tony and cowered a little more to reinforce her cover as a woman afraid. Tony met Greaves' gaze with narrowed, defiant eyes, and a set jaw.

"Ms. Jones, do you know this man?" Greaves asked with deadly calm.

"Yes." She said quietly and timorously, "He's…a…an old…boyfriend."

Greaves turned to Tony and said threateningly, "I don't appreciate people coming into my club, harassing _my_ girls and disturbing my customers."

Jabbing a finger toward Hannah, Tony met Greaves' eyes, "She's _mine._ She works for me."

Panicked, Hannah blurted, "No!"

"You sanctimonious little…" Tony snarled, raising his hand as if to strike her. Hannah flinched, cowered, and covered her face with her arms for protection. Roberts lunged forward, seized Tony's wrist, twisted it up behind his back, and held it firm. Tony let out a muffled cry of pain as the man pulled his arm upwards, straining the muscles in Tony's shoulder.

"I suggest you keep your hands to yourself, Mr.…?" Greaves sneered.

"DiNardo. Tony DiNardo."

"I suggest you keep your hands to yourself, Mr. DiNardo." At a slight nod from Greaves, Nick Roberts released Tony's arm and stepped back. Tony brought his arm back to his side and rotated the joint a few times to relieve the mild burning pain in his arm; Roberts, the dishonorably discharged marine, was incredibly strong.

"Exactly what position did Ms. Jones hold whilst in your employment?" Greaves asked, locking eyes with Tony.

"Katherine was one of my best dancers." Tony said using Hannah's undercover identity.

"Was?"

"My club was shut down last year." Tony released a heavy sigh, "It was a similar set-up to this." Greaves shifted a little his seat.

Tony sat straighter in his chair and smirked, "Yeah, I know all about your girls and their extracurricular activities. One of your barmen, Jim…he's an old associate of mine. He tipped me off that Katherine was working here." Glancing behind Tony, Greaves slightly nodded his head to Roberts who left the room and closed the door behind him.

"I don't know what you've heard, Mr. DiNardo, but I…" Greaves began.

"I'm not here to rat you out. I just want Katherine back. I'm starting up my business again here in DC," Tony interrupted.

"No…" Hannah whispered fearfully, "No, I won't do it again, Tony. I won't let you degrade me like that again."

"I'm warning you…one more word out of you…" Tony growled in a low voice. Hannah cowered even more, surprised at the tone of dominance in his voice.

Tony turned to Greaves, "I'm not here to destroy your business, Mr. Greaves. I just want my girl back so I can start up mine again. Like I said, Katherine was my best girl. All the punters wanted her. I got a good price for her." To emphasize his point, Tony looked Hannah up and down, his eyes lingering on her long legs.

"You can't do much with just one girl, Mr. DiNardo, no matter how good she is." Greaves responded, taking a few puffs on his cigar. "I think she's better off where she is."

Tony sat in silence for a few moments, sizing Greaves up. He decided to test the waters, and with his most charming grin, asked "How about a partnership? There's more than enough business for both of us. Why should we compete with each other when together, we can lock this town up?"

"A partnership? With you?" Greaves pulled the cigar out of his mouth and leaned forward, "I don't know anything about you, Mr. DiNardo, what makes you think I would trust you? What can you offer me that I don't already have?"

Tony leaned forward slightly and met Greaves' eyes, "I ran my club the same way as you do, had the same perks for the regulars. Well…" Tony rolled his eyes briefly, "My club had a bit more class…dealt in higher quality merchandise for which my customers paid premium dollars."

"Your club was closed down." Greaves sneered, with a dismissive wave of his cigar.

"Yes, well, I've learned from my mistakes," Tony responded. "I could double your sales. I'm still in touch with a most of my clientele…clientele, I might add, that paid well for discretion and a steady supply of girls and whatever else they wanted."

"And what do you get out of it?"

"A fair cut in the profits…" Tony said bending forward, locking Greaves' eyes with his own, and slipping a small device from his sleeve. He carefully pressed the tacky side of the bug onto the underside of Greaves' desktop. "…profits from any meetings your girls have with my clients and any other merchandise we sell. I can supply you with the highest quality of both. But she," he nodded his head at Hannah, "Works for me…and only me. We can share the profits from the services of the other girls…and of course, from the recreational…powders…we supply."

Tony started as the office door swung open and hit the wall with a bang. He turned to see James Kendry, the undercover agent posing as the bartender, fall through the open doorway and land hard on the floor. Inwardly, Tony winced as Kendry pushed himself slowly to his hands and knees and took a few steadying breaths against the hard shock of hitting the floor. As Kendry lifted his head, Hannah saw a trickle of blood running from a small cut on his right cheekbone down to his chin. Wilson and Roberts roughly seized his arms and dragged him to his feet.

"Mr. Kennett." Greaves stood from his desk and slowly walked to Kendry and stood in front of him. "I understand that you have been filling in our guest on the workings of this establishment." James cast a wary glance at Hannah and Tony and turned his gaze back to Greaves.

Greaves turned away from Kendry, studying his cigar, "I like to think that I can trust my staff to keep my business confidential." Greaves turned back to Kendry, sternly looking the bartender in the eye. "I have no use for employees who can't be discrete."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Greaves. I used to work for Mr. DiNardo at his club in New York," James explained. "He got in touch with me a few weeks back, told me he was going to open a new club in DC, and asked if I would work with him again."

Greaves took a long drag on his cigar and blew a cloud of smoke in Kendry's face. Kendry turned his face away from the smoke with a grimace. "I told him he would have competition…" James coughed. "…that you were running the same kind of operation, and that Katherine was working for you. I told him it wouldn't be wise to cross you, Mr. Greaves."

Greaves roughly yanked Kendry's arm from Roberts' grip, unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt sleeve, and pushed it back, exposing the bare skin of his forearm. He took the cigar out of his mouth and stubbed it out on the inside of Kendry's forearm. James hissed in pain and did his best to pull away from the iron grip the men had on him.

"NO!" Hannah yelled. "Leave him alone!" She leapt from her chair, rushed over and began pulling at Greaves' arm, trying to pull the cigar away. Greaves shoved her aside….hard. She fell back into Tony, who had risen from his chair. He caught her and held her tight. Greaves lifted the cigar from James' arm and looked down at the burned and bleeding skin.

"If you ever open your mouth about my business again," he threatened, "This…" he pointed to the wound, "Will seem like a walk in the park." He stepped away and walked to his desk, saying to Roberts and Wilson, "Get him out of my sight." Roberts and Wilson dragged James out of the office, closing the door.

Turning to Tony, he said, "I don't go into business with just anybody, Mr. DiNardo. I need to know you are who you say you are." He looked at Hannah who was shaking slightly in Tony's arms. "I also need to know that the 'product' is going to do as it's told," He looked pointedly at Hannah "…and that the clientele and merchandise are both of as high a quality as advertised."

"She will perform as I command," Tony told him quietly and firmly, "I can assure you of that. And I can assure you that my clientele and recreational perks are of the highest quality. I only deal with the best suppliers. Our business will grow…I promise you."

Greaves studied Tony for a moment. "Come back tomorrow night, I'll have my answer for you then," he finally said and sat back down in his chair. Waving his cigar in a dismissive gesture, he added, "Take her home; I won't have her in the club in this state." Hannah had allowed a few tears to fall and sobbed softly.

Tony headed for the door, pushing Hannah ahead of him, opened the door and ushered her out. Silently, they made their way down the corridor back into the dressing rooms. Several girls turned from their mirrors and asked Hannah if she was all right. Tony gently pushed her ahead of him, saying to each girl, "She's fine...she's fine."

They stopped by Hannah's station long enough for her to grab her coat and handbag. With a wide-eyed stare, Jaya rose from her stool, whispering urgently, "What're you doing here?" Her eyes darted around the room, checking that no one was listening.

"Kitty's not feeling well." Tony said. "I'm taking her home."

"But, Ton-"

Hannah interrupted quickly, "It's okay, Jaya. I think I'm just coming down with a cold. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget to read your letter." Hannah gave Jaya a firm look that clearly said, 'Drop it. I'll explain later'.

She slipped on her coat as Tony pulled her towards the stage door, and they slipped out into the cool night air. "What about James?" Hannah said as she pulled up the collar of her coat against the chill. Just down the alley, they saw Gibbs flash his headlights.

"Let's go find out," Tony said starting for Gibbs' car. As they neared the drivers' side, Gibbs rolled down the window.

"Kendry's fine." Gibbs told them. "Wilson and Roberts threw him out the stage door a few minutes ago. He's in the van with McGee and Addison."

"He's okay?" Hannah asked, leaning her arm on the car door, with concern for her agent. Gibbs nodded.

"Come on, we better get out of here before they see us talking to Gibbs," Tony said, gently taking Hannah's arm.

"We'll call you in about an hour," Hannah said before straightening up and heading to Tony's car parked just behind Gibbs'. After they entered his car, Tony calmly pulled out of the alley.

They rode in silence for a few minutes. "You still mad at me?" Tony asked referencing his outburst witnessed by Gibbs and Ziva.

"What do you think?" she asked, firmly and deliberately keeping her gaze fixed out of the passenger window.

"I'm sorry." He said after a short pause.

"You should be." She snapped at him as she turned to face him. "You had no right bringing that up. What does it matter how many agents I've made out with? They were all undercover!"

"Even me?" He asked quietly. Before she could answer he turned his eyes back to the road.

* * *

_Tony pulled the car into his allotted space and shut off the engine. He turned to the sleeping form next to him. Hannah had shifted a little further down into the seat, the collar of her jacket hiding the lower half of her face from view. Tony reached out a hand and gently shook her shoulder. "Hey, we're here." He said softly._

_Hannah cracked open one bleary eye and looked around before shifting upright in the seat. He rubbed the palms of her hands over her face then drew them back through her almost dry hair. "Sorry." She said as she grabbed her backpack from the foot well. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."_

"_Don't worry about it, you obviously needed it." They stepped out of the car and slammed the doors behind them. The NCIS parking lot was empty save a few cars. He recognized a few of them as belonging to the night staff and security guards. He spotted Gibbs' pickup in its space closer to the entrance. Tony slung his backpack onto his shoulder and fell into step beside Hannah as she headed towards the main entrance. When they walked in through the main doors they saw Gibbs the other side of the security station collecting his own backpack from the belt of the x-ray scanner. "Mornin', Boss." Tony called out as he and Hannah placed their bags on the belt and stepped through the metal detector, flashing their ID cards to the security guard. "What's the case?"_

_They three agents piled into the elevator when the doors slid open. "I know as much as you do, DiNozzo." Gibbs said pushing the button for their floor. "Director Morrow wants to brief us personally." Beside him Hannah let out an enormous yawn. "Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep." He smiled as he took a swig from the paper cup of coffee in his hand._

"_Yeah, well we can't all mainline caffeine." She grumbled under her breath but still loud enough to be heard. They headed out into the bullpen when the doors reopened._

"_Agent Gibbs," Director Morrow called as he headed down the stairs from his office. "Thank you for assembling your team so quickly." Hannah and Tony deposited their bags behind their desks and waited for Morrow to round the corner into the pen. The director gave a nod to them both show his gratitude. "I appreciate the early hour." _

"_What's the situation, Director?" Gibbs asked.._

"_A few hours ago two bodies were found in an alley behind a row of shops on Sherman Avenue; both had been shot in the back of the head, point blank range." _

"_Execution style." Gibbs surmised._

"_It seems so; Doctor Mallard is examining the bodies as we speak. Special Agent Pacci has delivered the evidence to the forensics for Miss Suito; she's on her way in now."_

"_Why are we investigating this, Director?" Gibbs asked bluntly._

"_The victims were a retired navy commander and his wife." He paused to take a deep breath. "They were also firm friends of mine."_

"_I'm sorry." Gibbs said earnestly. _

"_After the commander retired from the navy, he and his wife returned to their first love, singing. They performed in a piano bar on Eighth Street." The director handed Gibbs a few sheets of paper. "Three days ago the commander left a message on my machine. He said that he had witnessed the owner of the bar exchanging drugs for money in a back room." Gibbs skimmed through the papers and read the transcript of the commander's message._

"_You think the owner found out that the commander had contacted the authorities?" Tony asked the director._

"_That's exactly what I think. Their bodies were found just a hundred yards from the back entrance to the bar."_

"_If Pacci's team has already covered the crime scene what is it you want from us?" Hannah inquired. _

_The director regarded her and Tony for a moment. "Do either of you sing?"_

"_I beg your pardon?" Tony asked, unsure if he'd heard the question correctly._

"_Do either of you sing?" Morrow asked again._

"_Sing?" Hannah looked to Gibbs seeking conformation of what the director was asking. _

"_Hannah does." Tony offered._

"_WHAT?" Hannah screeched. "No, no, no…I-I-I __**used**__ to." She stressed the past tense. "In the school choir."_

"_Come on, Hannah, we all heard you on karaoke at last year's Christmas Party." Tony grinned. _

"_I was drunk." Hannah shuddered at the memory._

"_Sounded pretty good…for a drunk." Hannah turned to Gibbs in disbelief. A smile flittered across his face which he quickly hid with his coffee._

"_Tony plays piano!" She blurted out. If she was going down she was taking Tony with her._

"_WHAT?" It was Tony's turn to screech. _

"_Perfect," Director Morrow declared. "You'll both do fine."_

"Uh…fine for what?" Hannah asked sure she already knew the answer.

"_Undercover. I want you in that bar. I want to catch the son of a bitch."_

"_Director," Gibbs spoke up. "We have no evidence to implicate the owner in the murders yet. It might not even have been him."_

"_So we get him on possession and distribution, then we link him to the murders." Morrow said as he turned back to Hannah and Tony. "From what the commander told me the bar is extremely popular, the owner's going to need a new act fast. My guess is he'll be advertising at some point today, a contact of mine is keeping an ear out for any news of auditions.. Find some songs and warm up your voices, it's your moment in the spotlight." With that Morrow turned and headed back to his office._

"_Auditions? Gibbs, he cannot be serious." Hannah watched the director retreating up the stars and stride past the door to MTAC. "I can't do this!" Gibbs noticed the panic in her voice. "I can't get up and sing in front of a bar full of people!"_

"_You did it at the Christmas party." Tony reminded her._

"_I was drunk!" She asserted. "And besides, that was karaoke; this…this is serious singing!"_

"_Come on," Tony nudged her shoulder playfully. "We'll pick some nice duets, get you a posh dress, it'll be fun."_

_Hannah turned to Gibbs who had seated himself at his desk. She placed her palms either side of his keyboard and leant in close looking her boss dead in the eye. "Gibbs, please." She pleaded. "Get someone else."_

"_You two are the best undercover agents in this building." He pronounced. "Just think of this as…a test. A chance to learn a new skillset." _

_Resigned, she dropped her head to her chest for a few moments before pushing herself off of Gibbs desk and heading to her own. She sat down delicately in her chair and switched on her computer. She looked up to see Tony watching her expectantly. "No Elvis." She cited pointing her finger at him. "Or Frank."_

"_Oh, come on." Tony protested. "My way? Love Me Tender? Two of the best songs ever written." _

_Hannah sighed as she opened the web browser and directed the cursor to Google's search box. She had no idea where to start. The extent of __her '_repertoire_'__ consisted of the usual karaoke tunes she could belt out after a few drinks, none of which would be suitable for a classy piano bar. She glanced over at Tony and watched as he pulled out his notebook and started scribbling furiously, the corner of his mouth turned up in a lopsided grin. Tony was a showman; he loved being the center of attention. He was full of confidence and cocky to a fault. His over zealousness had gotten him into trouble on many occasions, but this time she knew his personality was exactly what was needed. Turning back to her computer screen she typed 'top 100 songs' into the search box and hit return. She sighed tiredly at the multiple hits that Google offered her. It was going to be a long day._

* * *

"_Hey," Tony laid his hand gently on Hannah's left knee in an attempt to stop its relentless bouncing. "Relax, just think of it as a job interview…" He whispered. "…a musical job interview." She took a deep breath and crossed her legs trying to keep them from restarting the nervous bounce._

_She cast her eyes around the lobby or the bar once more. Several chairs had been placed around the room against the walls. A mixture of men and women, each extremely attractive and glamorous, occupied several of the chairs. She watched one of the women flick through her sheet music then lift a pitch pipe to her lips and give it a quick puff._

"_This is ridiculous, there's no guarantee we're gonna get the gig." She muttered under her breath. "I mean, look around," She nodded her head towards the other occupants in the room. "These people are professionals-"_

"_And so are we." Tony interjected flashing her a smile as he lifted the CV that the tech department had created for them._

"_She has a pitch pipe!" Hannah hissed._

"_Yeah, and all that means is that she needs help getting the note…you don't!" Tony told her quietly, reassuring her. "Just smile and enjoy it. You sounded great in Abby's lab!" He gave her knee a comforting squeeze._

"_It had good acoustics!" She deflected. _

_Hannah had spent the majority of the morning down in the forensics lab, the Goth testing her on a multitude of song lyrics. Tony, wondering where she had disappeared to, left Gibbs and the computer geeks arguing about surveillance techniques and went in search of her. He had already checked the locker room, gym and autopsy when he decided to try Abby's lab. The elevator doors slid open in time for him to hear a loud cuss ring through the corridor. _

"_Shit!"_

"_It's okay, just try it again." Her heard Abby soothe. The music in the background was cut short and the track restarted. Tony stepped out of the elevator and hung back slightly from the door to the lab. He didn't recognize the simple piano introduction. They had decided to each pick a song to sing solo and a duet should they be asked for it. Tony was happy with his choice but Hannah had refused to tell him what she had chosen and had muttered something about wanting to practice first. He leant against the wall just shy of the door frame and listened._

_*Funny. Did you hear that? Funny*_

_The first few notes were tentative, a little shaky. _

_*Yeah, the guy said "Honey, you're a funny girl"* _

_*That's me, I just keep them in stitches*_

_*Doubled in…*_

_He heard a frantic rustling of paper, he inched his head closer to the door frame and peaked inside. Hannah had a sheet of paper in her hands; she was scanning it quickly, her eyes darting through the lines of lyrics._

_*…half*_

"_It's okay, keep going." Abby encouraged._

_*And though I may be all wrong for the guy* _

_Hannah sped through the line to catch up with the music._

_*I'm good for a laugh, I guess it's not funny*_

_*Life is far from sunny*_

_*When the laugh is over and the jokes on you*_

_He noticed how her voice had calmed now she was a minute or so in. As the music swelled she boosted her volume and her voice soared. Tony was stunned. He had heard her at the Christmas party but as she had said, she was drunk and it was karaoke, but now with no drink in her system…her voice was simply stunning._

_*A girl ought'a have a sense of humor*_

_*That's one thing…*_

_She faltered, a blank expression on her face and he watched as she brought the words up to her eyes again skimming through them quickly before Abby snatched the sheet of paper from her hands, a defiant look on her face._

_*You really need for sure when you're a funny girl*_

_Hannah closed her eyes tight, her face screwed up in concentration as she tried to remember the words._

_*The fella said "a funny girl"*_

_*Funny, how it ain't so funny*_

_*Funny girl*_

"_Eeeeeeeeee!" Abby squealed as soon as the music finished. "Oh my God, that was amazing!" She handed Hannah back to sheet of paper. "See, you didn't need the words after all." Abby's enthusiasm hadn't passed on to Hannah; she stood by the metal work bench, the sheet of paper in her hands, nervously playing with the edge._

"_Abby, I can't do this." She admitted quietly. "I can't get up and sing in front of a room full of strangers."_

"_You did it at the Christmas party!"_

"_I WAS DRUNK!" Hannah yelled. "I mean, wasn't it obvious?"_

"_Sounded pretty good for someone who was drunk." Abby grinned, echoing Gibbs. Outside the door Tony covered his mouth with his hand to block the snigger threatening to escape. Hannah dropped onto the seat next to the work bench and buried her head in her hands. "Aww," Abby scuttled over and wrapped her arms around her friend. "It's gonna be fine." She reassured her. "I'm sure it'll be fun once you get into it."_

"_I guess." Hannah sighed, returning the warm hug. "I'm just nervous."_

"_At least you're not doing it alone; you'll have Tony with you." Abby said as she pulled away and set about gathering up the numerous papers scattered over the table top. Tony shifted back from the doorframe to avoid being seen._

"_Ugh, he's gonna love every second of it." Hannah groaned. "He loves being the center of attention; this is the perfect op for him. He has got a great voice though." She admitted after a brief pause. "What?" She looked up to see Abby looking at her closely, one finely plucked eyebrow raised._

"_Nothing." She said lightly, turning back to her task._

"_Oh no, you can't look at me like that then say 'nothing'." Hannah said rising from her chair. "What is it?"_

"_Just…you and Tony, you haven't…you know, been fighting as much lately." The scientist chewed in the inside of her lip waiting for Hannah's reaction. Tony leaned a little closer to the door, eager to hear what would be said next_

"_Huh." Hannah's brow furrowed. "Maybe he's growing up." She said shrugging her shoulders. _

"_Oh, come on, Hannah, you tease him just as much as he teases you!"_

"_I…" Hannah opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to come up with an answer._

"_You like him, don't you." Abby stated. "You can't deny…he is pretty hot." In the corridor, Tony couldn't help the grin that spread across his face._

"_He's…he's a very…good looking guy, I admit." Hannah granted. "But…" _

"_But?"_

"_Rule twelve." Hannah said simply. _

"_You wanna practice one more time?" Abby asked her, changing the subject at the slightly sad look on Hannah's face. Tony pulled out his cell phone and under the pretense of being one side of a phone conversation strode through the door of the lab._

"_Okay, got it, thanks." He spoke into the receiver and snapping the phone shut, ending the fake call. "Hey girls, what'ya doing?"_

"_Maybe I should have gotten a pitch pipe." Hannah murmured to herself. Her words brought Tony out of his daze and back to their task at hand. He realized his hand was still resting on her knee. He pulled it back and placed it in his own lap._

"_You don't need one." He said sitting a little straighter in his chair when the door to the main of the bar opened and a man in a finely pressed suit walked out into the lobby._

_He looked down at the clipboard in his hands and read aloud the next name on his list. "Mr and Mrs. DiNollo?"_

* * *

**AN: thanks for reading, please leave a quick review! Ta! x**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN:**

Hello folks, here's chapter 11 for you! It's the biggest yet at an epic 6,659 words! Whoo, go me! Anyhoo, there's two flashbacks in this chap, both are writen in_ ITALICS_. Both of the flash backs pick up after the Tony-shooting-Hannah incident!

Don't forget you can now find me on facebook on my author's page! There you get sneek peeks of upcoming chapters, be able to see pictures related to the story and be able to give me your say on some aspects of the story! .com/#!/pages/CalinaAnneHart/184860388226318

Enjoy Chapter 11!

**Chapter 11**

_**Previously:**_

_They rode in silence for a few minutes. "You still mad at me?" Tony asked referencing his outburst witnessed by Gibbs and Ziva._

"_What do you think?" she asked, firmly and deliberately keeping her gaze fixed out of the passenger window._

"_I'm sorry." He said after a short pause._

"_You should be." She snapped at him as she turned to face him. "You had no right bringing that up. What does it matter how many agents I've made out with? They were all undercover!" _

"_Even me?" He asked quietly. Before she could answer he turned his eyes back to the road._

* * *

"Even me?" He asked quietly. Hannah stared at him; she could see the hurt hidden in his eyes. She opened her mouth to answer him but closed it again quickly, unsure of what to say. Tony turned his eyes back to the road, his face set. Hannah resumed her silent stare out of the passenger window as Tony merged onto the highway with the rest of the late night traffic.

They both held the silence until Tony pulled off the highway at their exit. "Kendry was right." Tony said looking in his rear view mirror. Hannah turned slightly in her seat and peered around the headrest to look out of the rear window. "Black sedan, two cars back." Hannah counted back until she found the vehicle. "It's been tailing us for the last fifteen minutes." Hannah reached under her seat and pulled out a camera. Turning in on and lifting it to her eye she zoomed in on the car's license plate.

"BX0514." She read aloud. "Yup, that's one of Greaves'." She snapped a few pictures before turning back to face front and turned off the camera, placing it back under her seat.

"Looks like we're having a sleep over, then." He said with his trademark smirk. "I hope you packed your jammies!" He nodded his head at her small handbag. Hannah ignored his attempt to rile her as he made the last turn and pulled the car against the curb outside his building. Glancing in his rear view mirror again he watched as their tail pulled over a few spaces back. "Let's show 'um what they want to see." He threw open his door and climbed out slamming it closed behind him. Hannah watched him as he strode around the hood of the car, he had slipped easily back into his undercover persona, his face stormy he opened the passenger side door and reached in, taking a firm hold of her upper arm he pulled her out of the car.

One of Hannah's heels caught the strap of her handbag and she stumbled into Tony. He closed the car door then pushed her against it forcefully. He back hit the metal with a thud and she felt her neck snap back. Tony pressed himself close against her, his face inches from hers.

"You ok?" He murmured as he brought his hand up to her face and cupped her cheek softly.

"Yeah." She whispered breathlessly. She felt slightly in awe of how he could switch his emotions and personality at the drop of a pin. The forcefulness he had used to throw her against the side of the car teamed with the gentleness of which he was using to caress her cheek both scarred and amazed her. Hannah had a hunch that he was channeling all his anger at her through his actions. She shivered in the brisk night air as he slid his hand from her cheek down to her neck, pressing his fingers into the skin slightly.

"I think they've seen enough." He mouthed pushing himself off her body and readjusting his tight grip on her upper arm. He gave a tug on Hannah's arm and pulled her away from the car and towards the door to his building.

"Ow." Hannah moaned, she could feel his nail digging into her skin even through the sleeve of her coat. Tony pushed her in through the door to the lobby ahead of him. Her hand went to her arm, massaging the sore flesh as Tony called the elevator. They stepped in when the car arrived and Tony pushed at the button for his floor with more force than was necessary.

As soon as the doors slid closed Tony's shoulders slumped. He pulled his keys from his pocket with one hand as he ran the other over his face. Hannah, still rubbing her sore arm, saw the tired sigh that he let out as the elevator doors opened onto the fourth floor. She stepped out into the familiar hallway and headed for the door to Tony's apartment. She was a few feet from it when she realized Tony had not followed. She turned to see him standing in front of the closed elevator doors, his arms folded across his chest, and wearing an amused smile.

"What?" Hannah asked, puzzled by his expression.

"You remember the way."

Hannah's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "Yeah, well…you know…" She gave an awkward smile.

Tony gave a small chuckle as he headed past her to the door and inserted his key into the lock. "Welcome back." He said with a wink as he pushed the door open. She rolled her eyes at him as she crossed the threshold. She slipped off her heels and dropped them next to coat stand just inside the door before heading into the front room.

Looking around she noticed that nothing had changed. The couch was the same, the lamps were the same, the rug, the pictures on the walls, everything was exactly the same as it had been the last time she had set foot in Tony's apartment, eight years ago.

Tony passed her and walked to the window. He hooked a finger around the drapes, making a small opening, and looked down onto the street. Their tail was still there. He could see two men in the front seats. "They'll probably be there through the night." He said, letting the curtain fall back into place. "Might as well make ourselves comfortable." He slipped off his coat and slung it on the coat stand before making his way to the kitchen. "You want a beer?" He called to her.

"Yeah, sure." She perched on the arm of the couch. Tony walked back into the room and handed her the opened bottle. "This place hasn't changed." She said taking a swig. Tony took a drink on his own beer, observing her closely.

"This is new." He said walking over to a tall cabinet. It stood tall at six foot and was a full arms breadth wide.

"What's in there?" Hannah asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. Tony set down his beer on the coffee table then took hold of the handles and pulled the doors opened. Hannah's jaw dropped. "Holy crap!" She exclaimed. Every inch of every shelf was packed with DVD's.

"Quite impressive, huh?" Tony said stepping back to admire his collection.

"How many are there?" She asked scanning her eyes along the rows looking at the various titles. She recognized a few of them as one's she had seen with Tony.

"You know, I'm not really sure. I never really counted." He laughed.

"How do you even have time to watch them all?" She asked. "I can't remember the last time I had a free night to sit down to watch a movie." Tony nudged the doors closed with his feet and flopped down onto the couch taking another swig of his beer. Hannah slipped off her coat and draped it over the back of the couch before taking a seat at the opposite end. She started slightly when Tony suddenly sat upright and lent towards her, a frown on his face and his brow furrowed. Hannah followed his gave to her right upper arm. A fine red handprint was visible, strikingly contrasted against her pale skin.

Tony reached over, his fingers outstretched. "Was that me?" He whispered, his hand hovering over the skin as if afraid to touch her. He lifted his eyes to meet hers and Hannah nodded silently. He brushed the back of his fingers over the damaged flesh. "I hurt you."

"_Okay, last few steps." Tony held tight around Hannah's waist as they climbed the last section of stairs to Hannah's apartment. As they approached her front door he noticed her breathing had become more labored and she was leaning heavily on him. "Here, rest here a sec." He slipped his arm from her waist and helped her to lean against the wall whilst he fumbled with her keys. Finally finding the right one he slipped it into the lock and pushed the door open. Taking hold of Hannah's waist once more he maneuvered them sideways through door and into the living room._

_Hannah winced as Tony lowered her onto the couch. "I'm okay." She said breathing heavily when she saw the concerned look on his face. "Just pulled the stitches a bit." She lent her head back against the couch and closed her eyes, trying to regain her breath. Tony went back and closed the front door before heading into the bedroom to unpack Hannah's hospital bag. _

"_Okay, I turned down the bed and put your clothes in the laundry basket, it's pretty full, want me to put a wash on?" He asked as walked back into the living room._

"_Nah, it's ok, I'll sort it tomorrow." She yawned as she rearranged the sling the strapped her right arm close to her body. "Thanks for bringing me back from the hospital." _

"_It's the least I could do," He took one of the cushions from the couch and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. "It was me who put you in there." He placed his hands gently around the back on her calves and lifted her legs, resting her heels on the cushion. "Okay, can I get you anything? Something to eat? Drink?" _

"_I'm fine."_

"_You sure? You want your medication?"_

"_Tony, I'm fine." She said as another yawn escaped her. _

"_You want the TV on?"_

"_Sure." Hannah sighed. She knew Tony was trying to make up for shooting her but his tireless attention to her was starting to grate. He picked up the remote control and switched on the set. _

"_What do you wanna watch?" He asked as he flicked through the channels. "The news? Jerry Springer? America's Funniest Home Videos?" He roared with laughter as overweight man jumping on a trampoline went straight through the elastic._

"_I don't mind." Hannah said as he resumed surfing through the channels. _

"_Oh, here we go." He grinned at the old movie playing before them. "Chinatown, Roman Polanski and Jack Nicholson. What a film." He turned up the volume. "Best movie line ever, "Forget it Jake, its Chinatown"."_

"_What does that even mean?" Hannah asked him, confused. _

"_Just watch it." Tony told her gesturing to the TV with the remote. He settled himself on the couch, his eyes fixed on the screen. Hannah watched him for a few minutes. In the relatively short time she had known him she had heard more movie quotes and references than she could have imagined. She saw the way Tony's eyes had widened slightly as the fixed on the screen, he seemed drawn in. 'Maybe this is his form of escape' she thought to herself. She recalled her conversation with Gibbs in the car on the way to the navy ball._

"How much do you know about DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked her quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"How much do you know about him?"

"Um, he's bounced around from department to department, Peoria, Philadelphia, Baltimore. He's got several commendations-"

"No, how much do you know about **him**?" Gibbs interrupted.

"What, his personal life?" Gibbs nodded. "Not much. I haven't really asked him about it. I know he's an only child, but that's about it. Why?"

"Just something he said earlier, made me wonder."

"You want me to fish for some info." She asked looking at him curiously.

Gibbs murmured in assent. "Just don't make it too obvious you're fishing."

"_You know what I realized when I was lying in hospital…recovering." She teased. "You've been at NCIS nearly five months…I don't know anything about you."_

"_Like what?" He asked uncertainly, tearing his attention away from the screen. He had never been one to talk about himself…no, he had never been one to talk about his true self. Tony had long ago mastered the skill of hiding his true self from the world around him. Hi hid behind the frat boy attitude he had created in college. _

"_Your childhood, where you grew up, parents, college life, why you became a cop, things like that." She suggested. "Just tell me about you."_

_Tony looked away from her and down at his hands for a moment before he stood and moved away into the kitchen out of sight. Hannah refrained from calling after him and simply waited for him to return. A few minutes later he walked back into the living room with two bottles of water. As he sat back down on the couch he held out one of the bottles. She took it with her good arm giving a smile of thanks._

"_I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." He said simply._

"_What do you mean?" She asked tentatively although she had a feeling she knew what he meant. _

"_At the hospital, Gibbs was filling in all your medical forms. I asked him why your family wasn't there doing it…he said I should ask you."_

_It was Hannah's turn to fall silent. Gibbs knew of her past well. The first time she had been injured during a case with NCIS Gibbs had looked in her file for a contact number for a family member. None had been listed. Every field asking for a relative or next of kin had been left blank. He had asked her about it when she returned to work a few days later. She had brushed it off as having made a mistake when filling out the forms. Three weeks later when his gut told him to check her file again he saw that there were still no names listed. He had summoned her to his 'office' and asked her outright. _

"_I don't have any family!" She snapped at him. "No one cares if I get hurt."_

"_I care." Gibbs whispered._

_There were several occasions over her time at NCIS when a case reminded her of her past. Each time she had turned to Gibbs. They sat in his basement, a bottle of something open on the work bench, she would talk and he would listen whilst working on his latest project. _

_Her reverie was broken by the shill ring of her cell phone. She pulled it from her pocket and looked at the caller ID before tossing it onto the coffee table in front of her._

"_Simmonds." She explained at the puzzled look on Tony's face._

"_Chris Simmonds? From personal? Bad breath, no sense of personal space?"_

"_He's kind of got a bit of a crush on me." Hannah shrugged. "He called me a couple of times while I was in hospital, came to visit me once…I pretended I was asleep."_

_A silence fell over them again for a few moments, each contemplating whether or not to tell the other the horrors of their pasts. "You really wanna know?" She asked._

"_Like I said, I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."_

_Hannah took a deep breath. "Okay." She nodded. "I was born in a trailer park in Utah, my dad was an abusive drunk and my mom was a smackhead. They're both dead now." She let out the breath. She felt a little bit of her tension melt away slightly. "They were high school sweethearts, he was a jock and she was a cheerleader. After they left school he fell in with the wrong crowd, dragged my mom down with him." Her voice was calm and steady. "I was born eight weeks early and addicted to heroin. At three days old I went through withdrawal." She registered the shock on Tony's face, his eyes were wide like saucers and his mouth hung open slightly._

"_For the first nine years on my life my dad was in and out of prison for something or other," She continued. "Drug possession, theft…domestic abuse…" She trailed off. _

"_Did he ever hit you?" Tony asked quietly. Hannah nodded minutely her gaze now fixed on a button of his shirt. _

"_When I was seven, I was outside playing soccer with the kid from the trailer next door." She recalled, her voice scarcely more than a whisper. "I didn't have very good aim." She gave a small laugh that lacked all humor. "I broke a window. My dad had been drinking for hours, he dragged me inside by my hair, screaming at me calling me pathetic, worthless, a waste of space." _

_She fell silent again for a few moments. Tony didn't say anything; he knew there was more she wanted to say, needed to say. He knew well the feeling when the floodgates opened. _

"_I can remember the sound of his belt hitting my back as clearly as if it were yesterday." A single tear fell from her eye and trickled down her cheek. "He locked me in the trunk of his car overnight, my mom let me out the next morning when she woke up from one of her drug induced comas."_

_Tony reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand, wiping away the tear with his thumb. Hannah leaned into his touch relishing its gentleness, her lips grazing the palm of his hand. His hand lingered for a few moments before pulling away. Hannah gave herself a little shake and pushed herself a little straighter on the couch, her injured shoulder screaming in protest. _

"_A couple of years later my mom disappeared for a few months." Hannah said her voice a little stronger. "We all just assumed that she'd overdosed somewhere. Then one day this taxi pulls up, and outsteps this woman. She walks over to me and says "God, I missed you Hannah", I had no clue who she was. I remember thinking there was something familiar about her, like I'd met her before but I could remember where. I didn't even recognize my own mother!" She said with reverence. _

"_Turns out she'd finally come to her senses, checked herself into rehab. She was clean." Tony noticed how her face had lightened. "For the first time in my life she was clean. She was a different woman, the way she walked, the way she held herself, her eyes were focused and her words weren't slurred. She'd got herself a job, an apartment, she was starting a new life and she was taking me with her." She grinned at the memory. "But my dad…he wasn't gonna let her go that easily. They argued for hours and then he lost it." She took a few breaths. "He beat her to within an inch of her life."_

_She grabbed her bottle of water and attempted to open it one handed. After watching her struggle for a few seconds Tony reached out to help. Took the bottle from her and unscrewed the cap. "Thanks." She smiled taking it with her free arm. She took a few sips before starting again. "My dad was sent down for a couple of years and I was put with a foster family for a couple of months 'til my mom was well enough to take care of me." She lifted the bottle to her lips again. Tony opened his own bottle and drank. "Those few years I had with her were…amazing!" She said happily. "It was a whole new life. We did all those mom and daughter things that I always wanted to do, we baked cakes, went shopping, got our hair done together…" Tony returned her happy smile. "I was so happy."_

"_When did they die?" Tony asked._

"_My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was twelve. She died ten months later…a week after my thirteenth birthday." _

"_I'm sorry." He whispered softly, placing his hand over hers still holding the bottle of water. He gave it a gentle squeeze. She gave him a thankful smile._

"_I bounced around the foster system after that. As soon as I turned seventeen I enlisted in the marines, I wasn't going to go down the same path as my mom. I wanted to do something valuable with my life, make a difference." Tony pulled his hand back when she lifted her bottle again to take a drink. "I loved marine life. There was order and structure, something I never really had growing up. I decided against the buzz cut though." She grinned._

"_I'm sure you could have pulled it off." He chuckled. "What made you leave the marines?"_

"_I didn't have a choice. I was only three years in, a silly mistake while running the assault course and I was disqualified on medical grounds." Tony furrowed his brow in question. "Repetitive shoulder dislocation. In the last two years it's dislocated maybe…eight times. I could no longer be an active marine." She drained the last of her water bottle and replaced the cap. _

"_When did you dad die?"_

"_He didn't, he's still alive."_

"_I thought you said he was dead." Tony recalled._

"_He is dead…to me." She said simply. "When he got out of jail he went back to the same trailer park, he's been there ever since, drinking away the days. I haven't spoken to him since the day I left that trailer park. I told you mine, now you tell me yours." She deflected._

"_Wait, you didn't tell me how you met Gibbs."_

"_That wasn't part of the deal." She laughed. "I'll tell you someday." She assured him. _

"_My father, Anthony DiNozzo Senior made his first million by the time he was twenty-five." Tony started. "His second two years later. He's a civil war fanatic, love to take part in reenactments. As a child I was always made to carry the poop bucket." Hannah sniggered at the disgruntled look on his face. "My mother, Katherine Paddington, was extremely over protective. She dressed me in a sailor suit until I was ten. Imagine the comments on the playground." He lent forward and placed his water bottle on the coffee table. "Oh, and she liked Louis XV, yeah she made me this canopy over my bed when I was five, I had nightmares of vampires for years-"_

"_Tony?" Hannah interrupted. "As entertaining as this is to listen to, you don't have to sugar coat it." She dropped her voice to a low whisper. "Talk to me." _

"_You have to understand, I'm not used to talking about myself." He admitted his tone serious, the frat boy attitude no longer in place. "I make a point of avoiding it."_

"_I'm the same." She told him; taking his hand in hers she gave it a comforting squeeze. "We're in the same boat."_

"_From the age of three my father installed an important lesson in me." Tony said after taking a deep breath. "DiNozzo men don't cry. Not when they fall over and scrape their knee at five, not when their six and the break their arm because they knocked over their fathers scotch and he shut their arm in the door, not at eight when they find their mom dead from an overdose…" _

"_God, I'm sorry." Hannah whispered._

"_I think your father and mine would get along, their very similar. My __father's not an alcoholic, he doesn't drink to excess, but he's defiantly a drunk. He can't control himself after a few to many ____Macallans. It's a drink I learned to make very early in life, three fingers," He held them up in demonstration. "One ice cube." He picked at a loose thread on the seam of his jeans. "He had a very short temper, especially with me. I think I was always a disappointment to him; 'you're not man enough' was one of his favourite lines. Whenever he hit me he always told me it was to make me stronger, make me more of a man, more of a DiNozzo._

_"__When I was twelve he shipped me off to boarding school. Even during the holidays he'd send me to summer camps. The only time I went home was Christmas, he was never there, he'd be off on his yacht somewhere." He realised that Hannah still had hold of his hand. He turned his hand in hers and laced their fingers together. "I remember one vacation, just before he sent me away to school; we went to Maui…he left me in the hotel room all on my own…for two days." Hannah brushed over the back of his hand. He found the movement extremely comforting. "I had no idea where he was or what he was doing. "When I left home at sixteen my father disinherited me, he cut me off from the family fortune. I wasn't enough of a DiNozzo."_

"Where's your dad now?" Hannah asked.

_"__Not a clue, haven't spoken to him in three years." Tony shrugged. "Last I heard he was on his third wife…and she was young enough to be my sister." He looked up from their entwined hands to meet her eyes. "Look at us, a couple of sorry souls." He smiled sadly. "I, uh…I think you win though."_

_"__I wasn't a competition, Tony." She chided. "We both had shitty childhoods, in pretty similar ways, but we're still here, right?"_

_"__Yeah."_

_"__Now," She said, turning her attention back to the screen. "Is this movie going to cheer me up?"_

_"__Probably not," Tony admitted. "But Jack Nicholson is pretty good." Hannah sank back into the padding of the couch, Tony followed suit, resting his feet on the coffee table next to hers. As the movie played their hands remained where they were, fingers laced together._

_"__Have you seen The Shining?" Tony asked a little while later, turning his head towards her. Her eyes were closed, her head leaning slightly to one side. He gently extracted his hand from hers and reached for the control. He switched off the set and placed the remote on the table. Carefully, so as not to catch the stitched on the back of her right shoulder, he slipped one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. He lifted her with ease, her head lolling to rest in the crook of his neck. Slowly he weaved his way through the furniture towards the bedroom. _

___Toeing the door open he turned sideways and manoeuvred them both through. Thankful he had thought to turn down the covers earlier he softly lowered Hannah's small form onto the waiting mattress. She woke slightly and shifted onto her good side and drew up her knees. Tony reached down and pulled the sheets up to her shoulders. She called out to him as he made his way back to the bedroom door._

_"__You're not gonna drive home now, are you?" She asked him, her voice groggy with sleep. "It's 0200!"_

_"__Does that mean I can crash on the couch?" He asked from the doorway._

_"__Stay in here." She said simply. "Keep me company." The hand not strapped tightly to her chest patted the mattress next to her._

___In the darkness of the room she couldn't read his expression, the light from the living room behind him meant all she could see was his silhouette. "No funny business." She could tell by the tone of his voice that there was, no doubt, his trademark winning smile on his face._

_"__I promise." She said through a yawn._

_"__I'll just go lock up." She closed her eyes and dug her head a little deeper into the pillow as he retreated into the living room and set about locking the front door and turning off the lights. By the time he returned she was on the verge of sleep again. She felt the bed dip as Tony sat down and heard the muffled thud as he kicked off his shoes. _

___He laid down, settling his head on the pillow and pulling the sheets over himself. He turned onto his side to face her, his eyes becoming accustomed to the dark. He smiled to himself at the utterly relaxed look on her face. He reached over and brushed a stray curl from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Her hand snaked out from under the covers and sort out his. She threaded her fingers back through his and held on tight. He returned the firm grip as he lowered their hands and slipped them into the gap between their pillows. _

___After a few minutes he felt her grip relax and her fingers slacken as she finally succumbed to sleep, a sleep into which he followed not long after._

"I hurt you." He whispered brushing the back of his fingers over the damaged flesh.

"No more than I've hurt you." She brought her hand up and laced her fingers through his. "This feels familiar." She laughed softly. "The movie, the couch…" Her eyes dropped to their hands. "This." She gave his hand a little squeeze in indication. Tony's eyes also dropped to their hands.

"We…uh…" He pulled his hand out of her grasp and stood. "We should get some sleep, we've got a long day tomorrow." He took a few steps back. "You can…you can take my room, I'll crash on the couch." Hannah opened her mouth to argue. "Please." Tony cut her short. "Don't." He said shaking his head.

Resigned, she stood and headed towards the bedroom, her head hanging. She stopped in the doorway, and looked back at him over her shoulder. He avoided her gaze.

"You were more than undercover, Tony." She said softly. "You've always known that." She slipped in through the door and closed it behind her. She leaned back against the wood and closed her eyes, swiping away the wetness she could feel on her cheeks. Lifting her hand she swatted the back of her head giving herself a Gibbs worthy slap. She walked over to the dresser and pulled open the top draw and then the bottom. He still stored his clothes in the same place. A creature of habit. She took the top most items from each draw before nudging them closed with her leg.

She dropped the t-shirt and boxer shorts on the bed as she removed her earrings and placed them on the nightstand. She quickly slipped out of her costume and pulled on the borrow garments, slipping between the cool sheets of Tony's bed. She buried her face in the pillow breathing in his familiar scent, the fabric underneath her cheek becoming damp from the silent tears that fell.

* * *

His thumb absentmindedly played with the rim of his coffee cup as his gaze slipped out of focus. He had had a restless night. The problem had not been his couch; he had dozed off on there many a time. The problem was the person occupying his bed. He had laid there on the couch for well over an hour before he was finally able to drift off to a fitful sleep.

The sound of a door opening snapped him back to reality. He pushed himself up from the table and busied himself at the kitchen sink, rinsing out his cereal bowl.

"Morning." Said a quiet voice behind him. Tony turned off the water and grabbed the dish towel to dry his hands, he turned towards the door way and lent back against the counter behind him. Hannah stood in the door way leaning on the work of the frame. He took in the borrowed clothing hanging on her thin frame. "I hope you don't mind." She fingered the hem of the too big t-shirt.

Tony shook his head as he tossed the dish towel onto the counter next to him. "Did you find everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's still in the same place." Her small laugh faltered when he didn't return it. "Uh…they still here?" She asked pointing her thumb over her shoulder to the living room window behind her.

"No. They left sometime in the early hours of this morning." He looked at his watch. "It's almost 0700; we should get to the office. You need to borrow some clothes?"

"Um…yeah, thanks." She said realizing all she had to wear was her costume from the night before. He walked over to the dryer in the corner of the kitchen. Reaching in he pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and a grey NCIS hoodie.

"Here." He held them out as he walked over to her. "Their clean." She reached out for them gratefully and he moved to slide past her through the door way. He froze when her hand touched his as she accepted the clothing. She looked up into his eyes fixing his gaze. The narrow space of the doorway forced them closer to each other than they would have chosen at that moment in time.

"I missed you." Hannah whispered. She placed her hand on his stomach, her fingers playing over the defined muscles of his abdomen.

"You left me, Hannah, remember? You took the easy way out, you ran away instead of facing up to your mistakes. If you'd stayed maybe…maybe we could have worked things out, who knows." He took hold of her wrist and removed her hand from his stomach. "We have to get to the office."

He slid past her and moved away heading for the bathroom. He closed the door behind him a little harder than he intended. He placed his hands on the counter either side of the sink and leant forward letting his head hang down.

"_I missed you."_ Her words rang in his ears. He turned on the faucet and cupped his hands under the running water collecting a small pool which he splashed over his face.

"I missed you too, Hannah." He whispered to the empty room. He dried his face and straightened his tie before heading back out of the bathroom.

He retrieved his jacket from the closet in the hallway and picked up his backpack; slinging it over his shoulder he turned to call out to Hannah that they were going to be late. At that moment she emerged from the bedroom, her strappy shoes, skimpy costume and handbag from the night before tucked under her arm.

"Ready?" He asked as he opened the front door. She nodded silently, avoiding his eyes as she passed him and exited the apartment. He followed suit, locking the door behind him then heading down the hallway after her. They each kept their silence as they walked out of the building into the brisk morning air and climbed into Tony's car. The silence continued for the entire journey to the navy yard. Hannah leant her head against the window and closed her eyes willing herself not to release the tears that were threatening to fall.

"_Gibbs!" She yelled as she opened the front door. She bent down and picked up the bag she had had to set down in order to open the door with her only available arm. "I got dinner!"_

"_I'll be right up." His voice sounded through the open door to the basement. She carried the take-out bag through to the kitchen and set it on the table. She had removed all of the containers from the bag and set out plates and cutlery by the time Gibbs rounded the corner into the room._

"_Hey." He said placing a hand on the small of her back affectionately as he passed her. "What ya get?" _

"_Chinese." She said attempting to price the lid from the nearest container. Gibbs opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beer. _

"_You okay to have one?" He asked holding up the bottle._

"_Uh, yeah, should be okay, haven't taken my pain killers today. SHIT!" She successfully managed to remove the lid from the container however the floor was now covered with rice. "Sorry."_

"_You didn't drive did you?" Gibbs asked through an amused smile. He grabbed a dustpan and brush from under the sink and quickly swept up the fallen rice depositing it in the bin._

"_No, I got a cab." She allowed him to open the rest of the take-out boxes. _

"_I would have come and got you." He said as he spooned a healthy portion of chicken and noodles onto his plate._

"_How many bourbons you had tonight?" She asked with a smirk. Gibbs rolled his eyes as speared a piece of chicken with his fork. "I thought so." She awkwardly helped herself to food. "Ya know, it's times like this I really wish I went both ways." Gibbs froze mid chew looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She didn't see his reaction until she reached for the container closest to him. "What?" She asked as she placed a few spring rolls on her plate. "Oh!" She spluttered when she realized what she had said. "I meant as ambidextrous! I'm right handed," She pointed to her right arm encased in the sling and strapped tightly to her chest. "And not being able to you my dominant arm is killing me." Gibbs noticed the slight flush to her cheeks. "I didn't mean…" _

_Embarrassed she turned her attention to her food. They ate in silence for a few minutes. "I talked to Tony last night." She said eventually. "I got all the info you wanted, the whole backstory. It's not pretty." She told him shaking her head._

"_He opened up to you?" Gibbs asked surprised. He hadn't known DiNozzo that long but he seemed extremely guarded, he was sure that he was hiding his true self behind the clown._

"_Not right away." She held out her beer to him. He reached over and twisted off the cap and she took a long sip. "Had to do a bit of tit for tat." She sighed._

_Gibbs nodded in understanding. "How much did you tell him?"_

"_I wanted to tell him as little as possible but…I ended up telling him everything." She set down the bottle and lent back in the chair. "Once you get past the immaturity he's actually quite grown up." She laughed. "I found it pretty easy to talk to him."_

_Gibbs finished his beer and stood to retrieve another from the fridge. He held a second out to Hannah in question and she nodded. He set it down next to her current beverage. "How much did he tell you?" He asked picking up his fork again._

"_Quite a lot but I don't think it was everything." She said thoughtfully. "How much do you wanna know?" She asked as she sat forward and picked up her drink._

"_Just give me the bottom line; I want him to trust me enough to tell me himself."_

"_Well, let's just say our dads were pretty similar." She told him quietly. She watched as Gibbs closed his eyes for a brief second, shaking his head. _

'_Okay." He nodded. "What time did he leave last night?" Gibbs asked changing direction slightly._

"_He didn't." Hannah revealed as she took another bite of food. For a second time Gibbs froze mid mouthful. Hannah saw the eyebrow raised in anticipation of being disappointed. "It wasn't like that, dad." She joked. "Rule twelve."_

"_Good girl." He smiled. Hannah laughed hard, the motion sending a jolt of pain to her shoulder. She winced and reached for her beer, draining the bottle, hoping it would dull the pain._

"_After we talked we sat on the couch and watched a movie. I dozed off about 0200 and he carried me to bed." She smiled fondly. "I wasn't going to let him drive home at that hour so I told him to stay."_

"_On the couch?" Gibbs probed._

"_No." Hannah revealed after a short pause. "He slept with me. Not __**with**__ me, next to me." She corrected. "It was kind of nice to have the company without any expectation." She admitted as she took a swig of her next drink. "We fell asleep holding hands how pathetic is that?" She laughed shaking her head._

"_Kindred spirits?" Asked Gibbs with a slight smirk._

"_Hardly, we just had similar childhoods is all."_

"_Maybe you two will start to get along better now." Gibbs posed. _

"_Maybe…"_

* * *

**AN:** Please be kind a leave a quick review! Anything you have to say, good or bad! And don't forget to come and find me on facebook! x


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: *waves sheepishly* I am sooooooo sorry! This has taken an AGE to get up here! It's been like four months! All I can do is apologise! A lot has been going on for me in the last few months, I moved back from Canada to the UK, had a car accident, I bought a house...plus this chapter was so so so hard to write, I kept re doing it over and over again!**

**Anyhoo, it's here now! As always, love to hear your thoughts, good and bad! Hopefully it won't be a long wait for the next one!**

**BTW, this chap finishes in a really odd way/place but I really wanted to get something up for you guys!**

**Oh and blah blah blah, not mine! Duh!**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

_**Previously:**_

"_Here." He held them out as he walked over to her. "They're clean." She reached out for them gratefully and he moved to slide past her through the door way. He froze when her hand touched his as she accepted the clothing. She looked up into his eyes fixing his gaze. The narrow space of the doorway forced them closer to each other than they would have chosen at that moment in time._

"_I missed you." Hannah whispered. She placed her hand on his stomach, her fingers playing over the defined muscles of his abdomen._

"_You left me, Hannah, remember? You took the easy way out, you ran away instead of facing up to your mistakes. If you'd stayed maybe…maybe we could have worked things out, who knows." He took hold of her wrist and removed her hand from his stomach. "We have to get to the office." _

* * *

The moment the pair stepped out of the elevator Gibbs could tell that something had happened between the two agents. Both Hannah's and Tony's faces held looks of thunder. As he approached his desk, Tony slipped his back pack from his shoulder and slung it into the corner behind his chair. Hannah stormed through the bullpen without a word heading for the back elevator to Abby's lab. Gibbs noted the too-large sweatpants and NCIS hoodie, no doubt borrowed from Tony. Gibbs waited until Hannah had rounded the corner before he spoke.

"Any problems last night?" he asked casually.

"Special Agent Kendry was right about the tail," Tony said without looking up from his keyboard. "They followed us from the moment we left the club and camped outside the apartment until about 0430 this morning."

"Not what I meant, Tony," Gibbs said quietly. The look Gibbs gave him registered with Tony, and he pushed his chair back and stood. Rounding his desk he headed for the main elevator. Gibbs followed after him, slipping into the elevator just before the door closed. Tony flicked the emergency switch, and the car ground to a halt, the lights diming slightly. Gibbs leant against the handrail and waited.

"I'm trying, Boss." Tony said quietly after a few minutes. "I am trying so damn hard…not to let her get to me." He ran a hand over his tired face. "But I just have to look at her…and everything, everything comes flooding back. I'm sorry about last night," He said sheepishly referring to his outburst heard by the entire team. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"You're damn right you shouldn't have," Gibbs said breaking his silence. He saw Tony shrink a little under his gaze, "You can't drop the ball on this one, Tony." He breathed deeply, trying hard to keep his temper in check, "What we're gonna do, it's dangerous. I need my team…I need you to be at your best." He stepped close to his number two, "If you can't find a way to work with her…"

"I can do it, Boss," Tony said pulling himself up to his full height0, "I have to do it." Tony looked his mentor square in the eyes, "God, Boss, it's been eight years, why does it still hurt me so much?"

"I can't answer that one, Tony," Gibbs said softly.

"I would have thought after all this time…" he trailed off with a sigh. "Why did she have to come back?" he asked, "Why did she have to be assigned that case?"

"Maybe you can get closure from this. Talk to her, Tony, work it out," Gibbs gave him a nod of approval before flicking the switch and setting the car in motion again. They had both turned to face the doors when Tony felt the sting of Gibbs' slap.

"Ow! And that was for…?"

"Three hours of Ziva and her endless questions."

"Was she trying to find out why you and Hannah macked?" Tony asked with a smirk. "Made out," He explained embarrassedly when Gibbs raised an eyebrow in confusion.

* * *

"Hey, Abby!" Tim called out as he rounded the corner into the lab. "Do you have the results of the tox screen on Lance Corporal Ashbury?"

"It's on my desk," The forensics specialist called out without removing her gaze from the eyepiece of her microscope.

"Thanks!" Tim called over his shoulder as he passed through the lab heading for Abby's office. The glass door hissed as it slid open, allowing him entrance. He rounded the desk and searched through the various sheets of paper until he found the one he wanted. As he straightened up to head back to the bullpen, a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Tim turned his head towards the ballistics room, and his jaw dropped.

Behind the glass beside the ballistics machine stood Hannah in a state of undress. Mid-clothing-change with her back to the window, she was unaware of McGee's presence. She had already pulled on a pair of tight black pants, a chain hung through the belt loops encircling her waist. Her back was bare, the only covering a few tattoos. Tim's mind flashed back a few years to walking in on Abby in the same state of undress. He watched as she reached to the desk beside her picking up a black tank top.

"TIM!" A cry from the outer lab caused Tim to jump, the movement sending papers from Abby's desk cascading to the floor.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…" Abby careened through the door tottering dangerously on her platforms. "Hannah's…" She stopped in her tracks at the sight in front of her. Her eyes flicked between the mess of papers cluttering the floor around her desk, Tim frozen in place with his eyes wide open like a deer caught in the headlights, and Hannah, still oblivious to the situation owing to the soundproofing of the ballistics room.

"Tim?" Abby cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I…um…I was just…I'm sorry."

He dropped to his knees and set about gathering Abby's files from the floor. The Goth folded her arms across her chest and waited for him to finish the task. Looking up for a second she saw that Hannah had finished changing and had turned back to face the room. Seeing the commotion in the room, she shot Abby a confused look. With Tim still focused on collecting the papers, Abby was free to communicate silently.

_-Sorry, I forgot you were in here._

_-Was he watching me? _Hannah asked, signing with a flourish of her hands in agitation.

-_He's not a pervert or anything; he just gets a bit nervous around girls._

Grinning, Hannah silently opened the door to the ballistics room and tiptoed out to stand behind McGee as he picked up the last few sheets of paper. He stood and placed them on the desk looking at Abby guiltily.

"I'm sorry." he repeated, "I'll come back at lunch and re-file them for you."

"That's not your only problem," Abby said looking over his shoulder. Tim spun around and found himself face-to-face with Hannah. A few inches shorter than Tim, Hannah looked up at him, eyes narrowed and face stony.

"Were you spying on me?" she asked, outraged. Abby instantly recognised the act.

"What?" Tim yelped. "No…no, no, no, no, no, I wasn't…" he turned to Abby seeking help, "I wasn't spying. Abby, tell her, I was just coming in to get some test results."

"You're on your own, Timmy." Abby smirked.

"What, are you some kind of pervert?" Hannah continued her voice rising slightly, "You like to go round watching women change?"

"No! I didn't mean…"

"I bet you sneak into the women's locker room for a private show," Hannah stepped closer trapping Tim between herself and Abby. "How do I know you're not going to follow me home, peek in through the window while I'm showering?"

"I would nev…"

"I should report you for red light behaviour!"

McGee opened and closed his mouth several times searching for something to say in his defence. Before anything came to mind, however, Hannah leant to her right looking past him. Lifting her right hand, she signed to her old friend.

-_That was fun._ She grinned.

Abby couldn't help the snigger that escaped her lips. McGee snapped his head back and forth between the two as Abby signed back.

-_Be nice to Tim, he's a good guy._

"You sign too?" Tim asked, his voice squeaking slightly.

_-Are you two…?_ Hannah asked, ignoring Tim and raising her eyebrows in question. Abby chewed her lip as she regarded McGee for a moment, choosing her words.

-_It was a while ago._

Hannah laughed as Tim continued to flick his gaze between the two.

_-You and your geeks, Abby._

Tim continued to look between the two, waiting for one of them to explain the sudden hilarity. Hannah looked at the confused man, his questioning eyebrows rising so high they were in danger of disappearing into his hairline. "He's is quite cute," she said smiling at McGee. "I'll give you that. Did you guys do it in the coffin?" She continued addressing her friend. "Uh….sorry…'boxed sofa bed'." Hannah said, her fingers raised and wiggling in quotation marks.

"I'm just…um…" Tim gestured to the door behind him with his thumb. "I'm gonna…" As he backed towards the door, his leg connected with the corner of Abby's desk and once again sent the stack of papers cascading to the floor. Abby closed her eyes against McGee's stammers of apology and simply raised an arm pointing towards the door. His cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, Tim rushed out through the door without a backwards glance.

"Poor guy," Hannah said with a laugh, "Has he always been that awkward?"

"He used to be much worse," Abby told her as she scooped up the fallen papers and tossed them unceremoniously onto her desk. "Now, it's just Gibbs that makes him nervous…well…and you."

"Oh, come on, I was just having a little fun."

"I know that, but Tim didn't. He's sensitive, and he can be a little slow to the mark sometimes when women are concerned." She turned and headed back into the first chamber of her lab, "Besides, I'm still kinda mad at you." She climbed into her chair and returned her attention to her microscope.

"I know, Abbs, I'm sorry." Hannah watched the Goth let out a little sigh before she turned back to face her.

"I can't stay mad at you." Abby swept her old friend into her arms for yet another bone crushing hug. "Now," she said, pulling away and placing her hands on her hips, "tattoo time!"

"Tattoo time," Hannah turned her back towards her friend, allowing her to see the inkings she had acquired over the years and looked back over her shoulder.

"You got the flower!" Abby squealed excitedly, spinning on the spot for Hannah to see her own six-petal flower placed a few inches down from her neck. She whipped back around and peered inquisitively at the line of markings trailing down her spine. "Hebrew?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"What does it say?"

"Just something about my mom," Hannah said, quietly grateful that Abby did not probe her for further information. "You…" she deflected the attention to Abby by turning and taking a gentle hold of both Abby's hands and turning them palm side up to see the inside of her arms, "…you've had loads done. What's the meaning behind this one?"

Before Abby could answer, there came a cough from the doorway. They both looked up to see Tony leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe.

"When you two have finished swapping artwork," he said with a bored tone as he picked at a hangnail. "The director wants to see us. Twenty minutes," he added, looking pointedly at Hannah before he backed out of the door and headed for the elevator. "Oh, Abby," they head him call out, "Why don't you ask her about the one she had removed?" The familiar ding of the elevator announced the car's arrival and Tony's disappearance. Hannah turned back to Abby to see her eyes roaming over her body, checking the tattoos she knew of one by one.

She gave a small gasp and grabbed Hannah's upper arms giving them a quick push. Hannah winced as the turned on the spot; Abby's fingers had gripped over the bruise left by Tony the night before. She felt Abby's cool fingers lift the hem of her top.

"No!" Abby sighed.

"I had to, Abby." Hannah said softly. "I couldn't look at it anymore." She shivered as Abby ran her fingers over the area on her lower back where the tattoo had been. The skin, she knew, was still slightly discoloured. The laser technician who had removed the tattoo had told her to expect some coloured pigment to remain. Hannah hadn't minded in the least; she would be happy enough for the image to be no longer discernable. "Tony still has his," Hannah whispered more to herself than to Abby. She dropped her head to her chest and closed her eyes.

Abby stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Hannah, hugging her from behind. "You need to talk to him," she said softly resting her chin on Hannah's shoulder.

"He doesn't want to listen, Abby," Hannah pulled herself from Abby's embrace and gave herself a small shake. "I better go," she said, offering her friend a jovial smile, "Don't want to piss off the Director so early in the day." She gave Abby's hand an affectionate squeeze as she turned and headed out of the lab. Just as Hannah rounded the corner almost out of view, Abby saw her lift a hand and swipe a finger under her eye.

* * *

Tony rubbed his hands over his tired face as he leant his elbows on the handrail outside MTAC. He could have done with a few more hours sleep last night. He had lain awake on the couch for hours, his mind mulling over the events that had led to Hannah's departure. He looked out over the bullpen; McGee had just arrived and handed a coffee to Ziva. Seconds later, Hannah stepped out of the elevator and stalked over to her discarded bag in front of Gibbs' desk. She stooped and rummaged inside before pulling out her gun and badge. As she straightened up to clip her gun to her belt, McGee held out a cardboard cup. She took the cup with a grin and slid past him giving him a winning smile. Tony watched, astonished, as she brushed a hand across his abdomen. He saw a faint pink tinge grace McGee's cheeks as he watched her move to the foot of the stairs.

"You have to let it go, DiNozzo."

Tony turned to see Gibbs closing the door to MTAC behind him. Gibbs regarded his agent for a moment, before stepping closer and looking him dead in the eye. "If you can't work with her tell me now. I can pull you out; it's not too late." he said softly.

"Yeah, it is, Boss."

"What's too late?" Hannah asked as she ascended the last few steps and catching the end of the men's conversation.

"You," Tony said playfully turning away from Gibbs and throwing Hannah an exasperated look. "The director wanted us here five minutes ago."

"Yeah, well I'm here now." She followed Tony as he led the way through to Cynthia's office, who waved a hand and told them to go on in.

"You wanted to see us, Director?" DiNozzo said as he politely rapped his knuckles on the door to announce their presence.

"You're late," Vance said without looking up from the file he was perusing. The agents filed into the room, Gibbs closed the door behind them.

"It's my fault, Director," Hannah admitted. "My apologies, I was down in the forensics lab catching up with Abby, I lost track of time."

Vance looked up from the open file on his desk and studied Hannah for a moment, "Special Agent Hannah Blake." Hannah gave a polite nod. "I've been reading up on you," Vance said as he closed the file in front of him. Hannah looked down at the manila folder and sure enough, saw her name typed on the front jacket. "You have quite a file," Leon said, holding it up to show her its thickness, "There are some good things in here."

"Thank you, Director."

"But I'm curious,." Vance leant back in his chair and latched his fingers across his stomach, "Reasons for your sudden departure are not stated in you file. As I understand it, you had brought about a successful result in a difficult undercover op; yet a few hours later you handed in your letter of resignation with immediate effect."

"It was a mix of reasons sir, some professional, some personal," Hannah said quietly as she shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously under the Directors scrutiny. She felt extremely aware of both Gibbs and Tony's eyes on her, the two of them knowing well the reasons for her departure.

"Was there a reason for calling us up here, Director?" Gibbs asked pointedly.

"William Greaves, I want a sit rep," Vance looked expectantly at Hannah.

"We have an op underway, sir," she offered.

"As I understand it, you have been in the club four months and have gotten nowhere."

"Agent Blake and her team have established themselves well within the club and have blended in with the rest of the staff and performers," Tony stepped in on the defence, "That in itself is a vital part of any deep undercover mission." He looked across at her with a 'you're welcome' smile on his face. It quickly disappeared however at the glare on hers.

"Greaves is extremely careful in what he says and does in front of certain staff," Hannah said turning to Vance. "We've made numerous attempts to plant bugs in his office and inner quarters, but there's always someone around. We've had some really narrow escapes."

"And in the meantime, five men have been killed. Do you even have any evidence that it was one or more of Greaves' men?" Vance asked with his eyebrows raised.

"No." Hannah told him flatly, "And we didn't know about the murders until after they had happened"

An uncomfortable silence fell over them all as Vance stared at Hannah. She tried hard not to shift nervously under his scrutiny.

"I want this case brought to a close," he said finally, turning to Gibbs, "You're pulling rank on this."

"With all due respect, Director, this is my case, I'm a lead agent just like Gibbs, I am more than capable of solving…" Hannah interjected.

"You have been dragging this case out for too long, Agent Blake," Vance spoke over her, his tone forceful, "Finish it."

Sensing the finality of the conversation, Gibbs opened the Director's door and waited for the agents to file out. Hannah turned silently and headed towards the exit, Tony a step behind her.

"Agent Blake, one more thing," Vance called to her, "Whilst in this building I expect you to adhere to the Field Agent dress code; you are not Miss Sciuto."

"Yes, sir."

Gibbs noticed the slight bite to her words. Without another sound Hannah strode past Gibbs and through the door with Tony following suit.

"She's a good agent, Leon," Gibbs said, hanging back for a moment.

"That's still to be seen," Vance retorted, "Close this case, Gibbs." With a terse nod, Gibbs followed after his agents. As he exited Cynthia's office, he found the pair arguing as they descended the stairs to the bullpen.

"I was just trying to help," Tony said defensively to Hannah.

"I don't need your help, DiNozzo. I don't need you to defend me."

"Look, the director's a hard-ass; we've all been on his radar at one time or other."

"I don't want to hear it," she snapped as they reached the mid landing. Their raised voices had drawn the attention of Ziva, McGee, James, and Owen.

"Come on, Hannah, I'm just trying to…"

"No!" Hannah spun to face him. "I said I don't want to hear it! I don't know…what you're trying to do but you made it perfectly clear last night that there is…nothing," she gestured with a finger between them, "Nothing…anymore." A movement in the corner of her eye alerted her to their audience. "I need to speak to my team."

She descended the last four steps and headed for the conference room. James and Owen shared a look with Ziva and McGee before following her.

Tony squared himself, then made for his desk. He ignored the expectant glances from the two agents standing in front of his desk.

"That is it?" Ziva was the first to break the stalemate, "I cannot pretend that I did not see or hear that. Abby will not tell us, neither will Gibbs." She gestured at the lead agent descending the staircase from MTAC, "What is going on, Tony?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Zee-vah," Tony hissed his elongated version of her name.

"Tony, talk to us!" Ziva exclaimed, her frustration making itself clear. "We are your friends and your partners; you trust us as we need to trust in you."

"There is _nothing_, Ziva," he said with a growl as he pushed back his chair and stalked away in the direction of the men's room. Before Ziva had a chance to pursue him further, Gibbs had slipped past her and was hot on his agent's tail.

* * *

By the time Owen and James reached the conference room, Hannah had already poured herself a coffee and was pacing back and forth, nursing it in her hands. Owen closed the door softly behind them, and the pair waited for Hannah to speak.

"Uh…Hannah?" James questioned after a good ninety seconds had gone by.

"Hmm?" Hannah looked up mid-step.

"You wanted to speak to us?" he prompted. She nodded, more to herself than to her team.

"This is no longer my case," she said simply, "Gibbs is taking over the lead…Directors orders."

"What, just like that?" Owen vented, "Hannah, we're been working this case for months!"

"Exactly, it seems the director doesn't think we're capable. I'm starting to think Gibbs doesn't either," she added as an afterthought.

"Hannah, what's going on?" James asked with a sigh. "You and Agent DiNozzo...something's going on."

"It's nothing," Hannah said dismissively, as she pulled out a chair at the table and slumped down into it.

"Hannah," James pulled out the chair next to hers and sat down. He reached out a hand and placed it over her holding her coffee cup. "We're your team; we come to you with our problems. Why can't you come to us?" he asked softly.

"It doesn't work like that, James," she moved his hand off hers, "I'm your boss."

"Hey, you've never pulled rank on us before! Don't start now."

"It's starting to affect you, Hannah," Owen added, "I've never seen you lose it with anyone like that."

"DiNozzo's not just anyone," Hannah said with a small laugh, "He has a knack of treading on your last nerve." At her team's continued expectant glances, Hannah gave in, "None of what I tell you leaves this room…"

* * *

**AN: Thanks folks!**


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